KANA
by xXRottWeilerXx
Summary: Anime-based fic: / new chapter up: 8TH chapter / "I'm not sorry. For kissing you that is." !WARNING! content unsuitable for little kids and non-perverts.
1. Chapter 1

**KANA  
><strong>

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><p><strong>WARNING: This is a Yokai Rikuo x Kana story, so if you guys are anti-Kana, don't read this story. Rated T, maybe a little bit on the M side due to future sexual content and language.<strong>

**Disclaimer: Nurarihyon no Mago isn't mine.**

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><p><strong>AN: Okay, so I've just watched the anime and I think that I very much like the idea of Kana and Yokai Rikuo to be an item. And because there aren't that much RikuoxKana stories, so I figured that it wouldn't hurt to try one. The reason I chose Yokai Rikuo as the main character is obviously because I prefer him better than the sweet cuddly Human Rikuo, so I would like to remind you guys that I use only Yokai Rikuo in this story.**

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><p><strong><span>CH1<span>  
><strong>

His eyes narrowed as he saw his target, kneeling down on one knee to inspect the soil on that particular spot. The wide gash he'd managed to inflict on the underside of the red-eyed yokai's chest a few weeks ago was covered by his black kimono, tucked into a pair of matching black hakama, and as if the injury was one of his previous foes, it was left ignored by the third head of the Nura clan.

As expected from the third head of the Nura clan, Nura Rikuo. The white-haired Yokai had always been attentive to his surroundings and the area governed by his clan, a little injury on his body didn't really affect him much. A long tongue crept out and licked Hebidayu's thin lips as he watched the white-haired Yokai slant his eyes towards his general hiding place. Smirking, the snake-headed yokai decided to lunge towards the now-prepared Rikuo.

The first thing Hebidayu noticed was that Rikuo had trimmed his hair, and he could really say that he looked too much like his human form with the trimmed hair. Clashing swords with the third Nura, he couldn't even care less.

"I knew it was you, Hebidayu."

His red eyes bore into the yokai's head, and for a second it actually unnerved the snake-headed demon. With a grunt, he shifted his sword to slash the red-eyed demon vertically. Rikuo managed to block the sword with his own, a smirk playing his lips.

Hebidayu was reminded yet again, why Nura Rikuo had to die. The man absolutely refused to die and was it him or had his opponent gotten even stronger? He was faster, more forceful than he'd been a few years ago, and definitely better than when they'd been comrades all those years ago. Not that Rikuo would bother remember any of the events surrounding that particular part of his life anyway. He blocked a horizontal strike and used the opening to aim a kick at one of the spots where he was certain he'd wounded the yokai in front of him when they last fought.

It had the desired effect and he heard ribs crack before down the demon fell, into a heap of white hair and intense ruby eyes. _You may act like a demon Nura Rikuo, but in some ways you're more human than anyone else I know. And that will be the trigger of your downfall._ He brought his sword up and aimed for the heart, driving it down swiftly.

A small movement in the corner of his eye was the only warning he had before he was knocked off balance by a tightly clenched fist that belonged to the delicate looking creature who claimed kinship to his first target when he resurrected. He remembered the brown-haired girl too much, because he had clearly recalled killing her so-called sister, who was that dark-haired Omyoji again? Ah yes, Yura-chan was what the brunette called her. The girl that he would have preferred to leave alone if it wasn't for the fact that she had seen too much and he didn't need a petite omyoji girl coming after him and ruining his plans to take over the Nura throne. In the end, the Yura girl died, and it slipped his mind that one day her best friend who was there to witness the murder would be the one to deliver a punch to his scaled head.

Hebidayu spit out some blood from his broken tooth and as soon as he saw the girl lunging at him again with two short swords in her hands, he managed to dodge the double swords and used the opening to deliver a slash to her flank with his own poisoned sword. He cursed as the blade of his sword sliced through the girl's side. He wanted to reserve that newly concocted poison for Rikuo, but the girl had interfered with his plan. He didn't wait for the girl to collapse when he swiftly turned around to attack the now-standing Rikuo. This time he was going to make sure the third head of the Nura clan to perish once and for all.

Even if it took all of his poison to be wasted on that brown-haired Omyoji girl.

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><p>It took a while for Rikuo to stand up again, and with half of his mind wondering about the certain brown-haired girl whom suddenly punched Hebidayu, he prepared to strike his previous opponent. Whoever the woman in the omyoji attire was, he was going to really kill Hebidayu for hurting a woman from the Nura area.<p>

A flash of white and red appeared before him, and suddenly, he found her between him and his opponent, sword raised in effort to fend off the other yokai's blow. The sharp scrape of their weapons as they came together startled him out of his confusion. Kana blinked up into the snake-headed yokai's face but rally enough strength to keep him incapacitated for a moment.

"Woman, what are you doing." The agitation was focused directly at her, and she knew that his red eyes were burning a hole into the back of her head.

"This is my opponent, Yokai." She turned her face just enough to see him with one eye.

Her brown eyes made it all come back to him in a flash of distant memories… memories from his human side. The memories before Human Rikuo decided to give all of his body to be taken over by the Yokai Rikuo.

There was a flicker of recognition in her eyes for a split second before she spoke up. "Please don't interfere with my fight."

She turned all of her attention on the yokai who was bearing down on her with phenomenal power. She could feel the intensity of Rikuo's gaze for only a second longer, then his crushing aura moves to the edge of their arena. By that time Yuki-Onna and Kubinashi arrived, crying out to their master. Rikuo held up a hand to silence the two yokais as he focused his eyes onto the match between the omyoji woman and Hebidayu.

"Hmph. Who'd have thought that the great Nura Rikuo would be cowed by a mere dog." The Yokai's dark eyes shone with fury as Kana had stolen his prey from his grasp.

"I. Am. Not. A. Dog." Each syllable bolstered her strength, and with the last word, she was able to break apart from her foe. He immediately came at her with a flurry of hard slashes that she barely managed to parry or outright dodged. He followed his slashes with a lunge that was too full of anger, and he overcompensated. Kana got in a swipe along his side as his momentum carried him past her.

She turned and watched as her enemy righted himself, using his free hand to apply pressure to his wound. The gash was ugly but not life threatening. Damn.

The yokai sculpted his expression into that angry sneer before he came at Kana again. Inside, she wanted nothing more than to drop her sword and flee like a screaming little girl. But, she knew that Yura was somewhere out there watching her, and she would not let her down. Kana took a deep breath to calm her nerves and reached into her sleeve to summon one of her shikigami.

"Rokuson!"

The piece of paper transformed into a large deer. The animal lunged at Hebidayu, but the snake-head managed to dodge and counter the attack by elongating its neck to strangle the deer.

Kubinashi narrowed his eyes as he looked from the deer to the brunette in the white and red omyoji attire, panting while a hand applied pressure to her wound.

"Yuki-Onna, do you recall that deer?"

Nodding, the snow Yokai turned to her master, his hand applying pressure to his re-opened wound while the other was still holding onto the hilt of his sword. Did her master remember the ex-classmate of Human Rikuo? She frowned as she watched Kana summon another shikigami. The summoned canine pounced towards the startled Hebidayu and managed to bite off a large chunk from the snake yokai's arm.

"Kana!" The wolf abandoned the snake, which was crying out in pain as his neck retreated; making Rokuson able to free itself from his grasp.

"Kana!" Tanro growled again as he rushed to the Omyoji's side when he noticed her faltering posture.

Kana managed to put on a shaky smile as she pressed her wound harder. Sweat was beginning to form on her temples as she sheathed her double swords.

"I'm okay… Tanro, is Hebidayu injured?"

Rokuson rushed to Kana's side to let the woman rest her slumping body against his. The dog nodded. A pained smile graced her lips once again as she clutched the sleeve of her Omyoji attire.

"Just a little more, Yura-chan. Just a little more, and I'll avenge you…"

Her knees started to buckle, and she managed to call out to Tenro.

"Yes, Kana."

She let out a heavy breath, and inhaled shakily as she directed her gaze onto the still-writhing Hebidayu. Without taking her eyes off the snake Yokai, she clutched her sleeve tighter.

"Finish him, Tanro."

With a curt nod, the dog lunged towards the Hebidayu.

Kubinashi and Yuki-Onna averted their gazes somewhere else as they saw the dog lunge towards the screaming Hebidayu. Rikuo watched as Kana closed her eyes as Hebidayu's voice begged for his life when Tenro ripped the damned snake-headed yokai into shreds. A few moments passed as the summoned animals disappeared from the fighting arena as the brunette started to fall face-down onto the dirt, and Rikuo could hear her breathing heavily as unconsciousness started to envelope her.

Zen appeared moments after and was surprised to see a limp body in Omyoji attire lying on the dirt.

"Rikuo, what happened to her?"

Rikuo sheathed his sword and with a hand pressing the wound on the lower part of his chest, he neared the semi-conscious body. He knelt down and removed some brown strands covering her face. Her eyes were unfocused, and he could hear her mumbling something.

"Yura… chan… I did… it…" she managed to whisper out those words before her eyes closed.

"She's Kana."

Zen knelt next to Rikuo and noticed the yokai's re-opened wound.

"You've busted your wound. Are you injured anywhere else?"

Rikuo kept his eyes trained onto the unconscious body lying before them, and nodded.

"Some of my ribs are broken."

Yuki-Onna stood behind the men. "Zen-sama, Rikuo-sama encountered Hebidayu just now. That's why his wounds re-opened. But this woman interfered before Rikuo-sama was further injured. It seemed like she was slashed by Hebidayu's sword… but she managed to defeat Hebidayu."

Rikuo nodded, affirming Yuki-Onna's story. Zen narrowed his eyes as he inspected Kana's injury, his hand removing Kana's hand that was still kept pressed onto her wound.

"Rikuo…"

"What is it?"

The medication master placed her hand back into place. "Hebidayu's sword was poisoned. She could die."

Standing up, Rikuo nodded towards the limp body. "Bring her home and treat her wounds… Yuki-Onna."

"Yes, Rikuo-sama?"

He turned around and prepared to take off. "Get my mother to clean her up."

"Hai, Rikuo-sama."

With a last glance towards the limp body in Zen's arms, he disappeared from the site.

They waited until Rikuo was really gone when Kubinashi inspected the girl in Zen's arms.

"She's really Ienaga-san. How did she know Hebidayu?"

Yuki-Onna frowned as she noticed the edge of two scars peeking from Kana's collar below her left ear and another just before her right collarbone.

"This is weird, Zen-sama…"

"Why?"

Yuki-Onna sighed. "It seems like she recognized Rikuo-sama…"

Zen frowned as they started to hurry towards the Nura manor. He was sure the Nura clan had managed to erase the memories of those who knew about Nura Rikuo. But how could this girl recognize Rikuo? And he was even in his yokai form, a form his friends had never encountered.

He could feel Kana stirring a bit in his arms, and he fastened his pace.

Whatever it was, they needed to treat Kana first.

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><p>To say that she was surprised was an understatement as soon as Zen had come home with an unconscious woman in his arms, bleeding heavily. It was even more surprising when she recognized who the woman was. It had already been ten years, but she couldn't forget the girl's brown hair. She would've been happy to see the girl again after so many years, but seeing the battered condition of the once cheerful girl, she wasn't so sure if she should feel so happy.<p>

Rikuo had dropped by the guest room where Wakana had been changing Kana's clothes, his face unreadable as his mother asked for an explanation. He had just stayed outside the room, glanced a bit towards the blanket-covered body lying in the middle of the chamber, and walked away. His mother was quite upset by his behaviour, but she understood that he had his own questions too. Questions that could only be answered by the person lying unconscious from the lethal poison which could've killed her had not Zen treated her as soon as they reached the manor.

A sigh escaped her as she looked at the patient's pure face. Kana had really grown up into a beautiful lady, even at the age of twenty three. Her brown hair which was once short, had grown several inches past her shoulders. Before she changed Kana's attire, her eyes caught sight of the edge of a scar peeking out from the front collar of the yukata. She traced a finger along the tip, starting from the right side of her collarbone, dragging her fingertip lightly downwards, and stopped as the scar disappeared beneath the front collar.

She knew the scar had run between her breasts, and slanted to the left, tapering just before the girl's waistline. She had found another scar starting from Kana's nape, which started just below her left ear, and slanted downwards to the right, stopping on the small of her delicate back. Poor girl. She hadn't known what Kana had gone through during those ten years, but judging from her injuries and the Omyoji attire she wore when she came into the manor, it was enough to tell that the girl hadn't had her memories erased by the clan, as they had estimated. Maybe she had escaped the ritual somehow, and she didn't know what to do if the girl wakes up.

Sighing yet again, also for the hundredth time, she went to get a tray of food for the girl if she woke up.

As the door to the room was slid closed, she missed the two sheathed swords lying by Kana's side which pulsed and vibrated, rattling the tatami floor as they did so.

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><p><strong>AN: That's it for the first chapter. I know, there are a lot of unanswered questions, but bear with it, this is just how I do my stories. Hehehe… I will be very busy, but I hope to finish this fic. I've typed most of the chapters in my notebook, but who knows if there will be changes, right? Hope you enjoyed this, don't forget to leave reviews. Hugs and kisses!**


	2. Chapter 2

**KANA**

**WARNING: Rated T, due to future use of crude language and future sexual contents. Also, this story is purely KanaxRikuo, so there is a high possibility that there will be KanaxRikuo fluff. And if it's fluff, I really have a knack to make fluffy scenes fluffier than ever. **

**Disclaimer: Nurorihyon no Mago isn't mine.**

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><p><strong>AN: So here's the second chapter, most of the scenes here will be flashbacks from before the first chapter. I would like to remind you readers once again that I've only watched the anime, I haven't read the manga series yet, so this story is based purely by the anime series of Nurarihyon no Mago.**

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><p><strong>Ch2<br>**

_**Three years after the defeat of Tamazuki.**_

The three youkais stood there with varying degrees of shock, anger, disbelief, and fear written across their faces. Youkai Rikuo heard thunder off in the distance and took note; it wouldn't be long before it rained. He maintained his usual unreadable facade as he kept one eye on them and the other on the crushed shrine in his vicinity. Aotabo and Kubinashi were there too, always keeping on their guard.

Somewhere, he heard the sound of a man crying out in pain and he turned his eyes towards the ground, only to find it stained with such a beautiful crimson color, made even deeper by the dying sunlight..

He couldn't control the intense red his eyes were flashing as he noticed the source of the noise.

It came from the filth who had touched his property, who had foolishly killed the humans in his area. The Great Nura clan's area.

He raised his sword and felt it slide through the lowly youkai's throat, quieting him with a gurgle and frightening his remaining friends.

Then he looked at the deceased traitor's friends and they stopped breathing altogether at the pure hatred in his gaze. There was nowhere to hide from his eyes, those cruel, ruby eyes that could pick anyone apart and pieced them back together until there was nothing left in the end but fear. His hand made a jerky movement towards them, as if they were next on his list of people to kill. He turned his back to the overly-confident rebels as he knelt on one knee to inspect the blood-soaked letter from the folds of the dead youkai's cloak. Even as the companions of the perished youkai rushed at him – foolishly thinking that they could handle him just because his back was turned, he didn't even bother to glance at them. He didn't want to waste his energy on traitorous weaklings like them. Clearly, their current enemy was mocking them by sending the four idiots to ambush him and his two subordinates. Foolish, foolish indeed. The air was filled with blood as he let Kubinashi and Aotabo do their job swiftly and efficiently, the nauseating smell of copper tainting the air as they appeared immediately by their master's side.

His red eyes narrowed as he read the letter.

It was a threat to banish his human friends from existence.

Did they think he was going to remain in his human form forever?

They should've known better that Nura Rikuo could turn completely into the white-haired youkai he was and let him show them Fear.

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><p>The Sakura trees were blossoming again, even in the dead of winter, and fifteen-year old Human Rikuo stood before his favorite tree next to the pond. Kappa was soaking himself again, as usual. He didn't know how long he stood there, but night had come shortly after Kappa decided to get out of his favorite pond. His spectacles weren't there on his nose bridge, as he observed the branch where Youkai Rikuo would rest during night time.<p>

A smile graced his lips as he found his other self, sitting on the branch he'd been observing for the last three hours since he came back from school.

"_Why are you standing there?"_

"Just thinking."

"_Hm."_

"Ne, you're a youkai."

"_Yes, and I'm a part of you."_

Human Rikuo sighed as he looked down at his hands. Those hands weren't for fighting. He noticed that. There was a part of him that told him to keep overtaking his human form, because if he tried hard, he would be able to fight with those human hands. But there had been a small part of him that told him he couldn't do it, because he was a human. He could not be a human and at the same time be the head of his own clan. He was going to be twenty in a few years, and by that time, he would be considered as an adult by human standards. Maybe by then, he should let his youkai side take control of his body forever. But seeing what happened when he'd been ambushed by the enemy's youkais a few days back changed his mind. Maybe he should let his youkai form overtake his body sooner.

"_What are you thinking about?"_

"I was just wondering… If you would take over this body…"

The youkai's eyes slanted towards his human form, and he turned his gaze forward again.

"_Don't tell me you've given up."_

"I'm not giving up, I'm just accepting reality."

The red-eyed youkai jumped off the branch to land in front of his human counter-part.

"_And what reality is it that you mean?"_

Rikuo clenched his hands into fists.

"The reality that I can't protect my human friends and uphold my clan in this weak form."

"_You're not weak."_

That got a chuckle from Rikuo.

"Are you saying that because I am you?"

His youkai side had the corners of his mouth tilted up a bit.

"_Maybe, but it is true. To have the courage to make a promise to protect the dearest to you and at the same time your willingness to uphold this clan despite being a human… that in itself is another kind of strength."_

The human counter-part smiled. He never knew his youkai side had a nice way of putting things. But then, he _was _a part of him. Maybe his human blood brings about rare characteristics in his yokai form.

"Thank you. Anyway, would you take over this body for our clan?"

"_I will if you're willing to."_

"What about my friends then?"

"_Protecting the humans is a certainty. But you know what would happen if the others agree to that."_

Rikuo damn knew what his counter-part meant. It meant that the clan had to erase all of his human friend's memories regarding the once-existing Nura Rikuo. All of the people who had anything to do with his life as a Human Rikuo have to not know an inkling of him. That way, it was easier to rid them of future danger, and at the same time to let the Nura clan remain as an enigma to the society. The less the society see them in their yokai form, the better. That's what yokais are meant to be anyway, unseen enigmatic creatures that are meant to be feared.

And Kana… he hadn't noticed it before but when the girl had moved to a high school in Kyoto, he'd realized he harbored special feelings for the girl. It didn't feel the same with other girls he'd befriended, and if Kana lost her memories regarding him, it meant that his existence would disappear from her life. She was after all, a reminder to him that he still had human blood running in his veins.

But what choice did he have, anyway? It was either endanger his friends and lead the clan to jeopardy while he was in his human form, unable to balance the two problems with his bare human hands; or surrender his body to his youkai counterpart forever and let the stronger side of Nura Rikuo to solve problems. Because that is what he does best.

"I know, and I rather have my friends forget about me than being pursued by potential enemies. The fight with Tamazuki made me realize that."

"_Very well, then. I'll be ready to take over once you reach adulthood."_

"I would rather you take over as soon as possible. I still need the clan to erase my friends' memories, and those who had anything to do with me. So it will be next week when you take over."

The whiter-haired yokai looked at his human counter-part, brown eyes looking back at him full of determination. Nodding, he leapt back to rest on his favorite branch while Human Rikuo talked it out with the whole clan.

He knew his human side would want that anyway. It was just a matter of time when Human Rikuo would ask his opinion. They were the same after all, and he knew what was best for the clan and for the humans they'd sworn to protect.

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><p><em><strong>Kyoto All-Girls Boarding School<strong>_

It had been a few months since she'd attended the boarding school. To be honest, she was quite reluctant to leave her friends in Tokyo, and her parents, but as everyone had said it, she deserved to pursue her studies in one of the good schools in Japan. She had a familiar friend here anyway, and she just knew Yura was there in the same school as her because they were destined to be the best of friends. Yura was funny sometimes, and she couldn't see why others preferred to not associate themselves with the dark-haired Omyoji girl.

"Kana-chan, what are you doing here? It's kind of chilled out here."

Kana turned around to meet her best friend, Yura. The pale girl had a sweater over her light blue pajamas as she stopped next to Kana, watching the unblossoming sakura trees together. She wasn't really interested with the bald trees, but the fresh powder of snow glistened like diamond powder beneath the moon light. Smiling, Kana rubbed her palms together.

"It is kind of cold, but I like watching the snow like this."

Nodding, Yura hugged herself as they stood there for some more minutes.

"It seems like they're glowing. Ne, Yura-chan?"

The Omyoji girl replied with a sneeze as a stray dead leaf tickled her nose. Kana giggled, and tugged at Yura's elbow.

"Come on, we have school tomorrow anyway."

Yura replied with a whispered yes before she sneezed again.

They switched off the lights as soon as they entered their small room. The bed-frames creaked when they eased themselves onto the mattresses. With a short goodnight from Kana, Yura instantly fell asleep.

Kana watched as the darkness enveloping the room dissipated a bit, and when her eyes adjusted to the change in lighting, she could see the silhouette of her school uniform by the door.

She was going to be sixteen by the end of the month, and she couldn't help but think of what would her parents do without her. Maybe they'd buy a cake and wish her birthday from afar. A smile graced her lips. That would be it then, her parents were so predictable. Then she thought of her friends in Tokyo. Kiyo-kun, Shiima-kun… Rikuo-kun.

A blush crept onto her cheeks, as she thought about the grinning face of Nura Rikuo. His brown eyes were always warm when he talked to her. She never thought about it before, but she knew she liked him. Even after years, she still harbored the same feelings for him. Yura had told her it was puppy love, and she believed it then. But when she accidentally somehow knew that Rikuo was part Yokai, days before she left for Kyoto, she knew her feelings were genuine. It wasn't puppy love, it was real. She wondered if Rikuo knew she figured out that he was also the white-haired yokai whom saved her from the Mirror Yokai. Maybe he didn't, and maybe he did.

She sighed as she rolled to lie on her side. Maybe it didn't care so much to her if he knew anyway. As she often read in romance novels, love comes and goes. It's often the first love that goes first. She didn't even know if Rikuo liked her the same way or if he was just being a good friend. Even if he did like her the same way, she didn't know if the yokai part of him had the same feelings. No matter how much she looked at it, she knew she wasn't even meant to be with neither the human part or the yokai part of Nura Rikuo. The human form probably only took her as a good friend, and his red-eyed yokai counter-part was too cool and too… charismatic to be smitten with a girl like her.

She sighed again. A girl like her. Of course, a charismatic yokai like him whom exuded power and strength whenever he was present deserved someone better than her. Someone equally brave and strong, like Oikawa Tsurara-san. She knew the girl was a Yokai too, and she just knew that the yokai harbored romantic feelings towards Rikuo. They were a match made in heaven, as the others would say. Kana was just a human anyway. She hadn't even lifted a finger to help when Yura had been fending off the bad yokais when they were attacked some three years ago.

A single tear leaked from her eye.

She missed Rikuo, even if it had only been a few months. She didn't care if he took her as a friend, but she just couldn't help the sorrow feeling in the pit of her heart that something bad was going to happen sometime. She didn't want him injured, she wanted him to be safe. Praying that the bad feeling she had in her gut would fade away the next morning, Kana closed her eyes as soon as sleep started to take over.

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><p>It was winter when Yura had told her something important. It was night, the first night before Christmas of her first year at the Girls High School in Kyoto. She couldn't go to Tokyo for that year, because the snow storm was going rampant at every town in Japan.<p>

She could –albeit not easily- let go of the celebration with her parents, but she couldn't forget Yura's words when they shared a warm comforter as they sat watching the small t.v. in their room.

She had powers.

Powers eligible enough to be trained fully as an Omyoji by the residents in the Keikain manor.

She had declined Yura's offer to further train herself then, not because she was afraid, but because she was unsure. She was unsure of what would happen if she was to devote her life to slaying Youkais.

So she said no when Yura invited her to the Keikain resident.

But she did agree to Yura's plan to sleep over at the Keikain manor.

…

_**Exactly at three a.m., in Kyoto.**_

...

It was the next day when everything changed.

There was an earthquake at some places in Japan, reaching up to a whopping 6.0 on the Richter Scale. One of those places had been the Kyoto All-Girls Boarding School.

Most of the school grounds were overturned as she and Yura hurried there, as soon as the latter sensed the presence of a group of youkai.

She couldn't remember what really happened that night when they rushed to the scene, barely appropriately clothed for the winter in their cotton pajamas and winter jackets. Kana didn't really want to recall the sight that greeted them.

None of her friends staying back at the hostel for the weekend were badly injured, although they sported some grazed elbows and knees. A few of them were injured at their heads, obviously caused by falling objects that happened during the earthquake.

But she never could forget the state of her and Yuri's room.

All her pictures in there, the pictures of her friends in Tokyo...

The picture of Rikuo…

They were all destroyed, hidden underneath the heap of dust, snow and rubble.

As if something sharp pricked at her nape, she winced and held a hand over the stinging area.

There was definitely some youkais there, probably watching over them.

A bunch of quite strong youkais.

…

_**Three fifteen a.m., Tokyo.**_

…

Human Rikuo was clad in his black yukata as he ran to the site, ignoring completely Wakana's words to wear something warmer. His sleepy eyes were instantly fresh, opening widely as he stared at the heap of rubble that was once a familiar house in front of him.

"Damn it!"

He punched the snow-covered soil beneath him as his knees buckled, letting his body slump so that he was on his knees. He raked a hand through his sleep-disheveled hair as anger washed over his body.

No. Not Kana's house.

He was upset that Kiyo and the others' house had been damaged by the earthquake, but none of them were injured. They were found unconscious and was brought to the hospital by his subordinates, disguising as good Samaritans.

But this…

Kana's house was so destroyed, he was sure her parents sleeping soundly under that once rigid roof were dead, their bodies hidden beneath the debris.

"Rikuo-sama… this is Ienaga-san's house…"

Yuki-Onna had appeared by Rikuos's side as soon as she came back from the hospital to drop Shiima off at the building. Noticing her master's face, she instantly regretted for bringing up the girl's name. Knowing him, he was probably blaming himself for delaying the ceremony to erase the humans' memories about him.

It was only a few more hours until his clan would have performed the ritual, but the enemies had gotten one step ahead of them.

Clenching his teeth, Rikuo stood up and quickly ran back to the Nura resident.

He was indeed going to transform his body for good.

"Yuki-Onna," he didn't stop from running as he called out to her, his voice had an uncharacteristic ring to it.

"Yes, Rikuo-sama,"

He sped his pace as he neared the familiar junction to his place.

"I want the ceremony done tonight. And I mean now."

Yuki-Onna frowned at the order. She knew it was risky countering the foe's attack at a time as crucial as this. But this was Rikuo, the third head of the powerful Nura clan. He was surely knowing what he was doing.

She sped up her pace to match the speed of her master.

If there was a god for youkais, she prayed so that everything would just turn out favorable on their side.

And hopefully after the ritual, the enemies would focus on attacking the clan instead of innocent humans.

Human Nura Rikuo was going to be out of everyone's existence as soon as the first ray of sunlight wash over Tokyo for the morning to come.

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><p><strong>AN: So this will be it for the second chapter of KANA. Somebody asked me about the title, and I didn't really think too deep about it when I thought of giving this story that particular name. Maybe it's because this story will revolve around Kana's life as she started following in Yura's footsteps to be a Omyoji, but at the same time try to retain the harmony between human and good youkais; Youkais like the ones in the Nura Clan. And because I just like the name Kana. It's one of my favorite names. Thank you for stepping up to give your reviews for the first chapter, and thank you for reading. Love y'all!**


	3. Chapter 3

**KANA**

**A/N: Heya there, I hope you're still eager to read this story. Nothing special here, just that there are addition of new characters in this chapter, and a surprise pairing.**

**Disclaimer: Nurarihyon no mago isn't mine.**

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><p><strong>CH3<strong>

Kana had always imagined her first kiss to be shared with the one she truly loved. When she was ten, she started to harbor those hopes when she caught her parents kissing passionately in the kitchen on Christmas eve. When she grew older, she imagined her Mr. Right would have soft brown hair and warm eyes like her friend, Rikuo. When she was twelve, she had hoped that guy to be Rikuo. When she turned thirteen, her hopes faltered when she met Tsurara. When she graduated Junior High, her hopes were at last put to abort. She had been saving her lips for that one moment when Rikuo would walk up to her, catch her in his arms, and kiss her silly. But that never came. She knew it anyway, because she was really bad when it came to predict her future.

So she set her mind to reset. When the time comes, she would kiss the right man. That man would be her one and only. But as she should have known, reality wasn't all fairy tales after discovering that Maki had given her first kiss to Kiyotsugu, and yet they didn't end up together. Kana's hopes faltered yet again. Then Yura came, and she couldn't thank the gods more when the Omyoji became her friend, and told her it was alright to hope for a fairy tale life once in a while. And she believed it.

Until she got news about her destroyed home in Tokyo nine days after the cursed earthquakes and blizzard.

Her school had given her a written permission to come back to Tokyo for her parents' funeral, the only family she had. She thought she could confide in the fact that she still had her friends to lean on, but reality was once again against her. They had forgotten about her, about each other. They were happily living a life with their new-found friends, oblivious to the fact that Kana was aware that they were under a spell. She could smell the Yokai aura around them, around the whole place. And she knew that smell.

It was a few days before spring when she decided to give up. She had climbed to the rooftop of the tallest building at her school in Kyoto, ready to leave the world where fairy tales were never meant to be for her.

She had been so tired, so tired that she didn't even realize she hadn't hit the ground. She was instead in a pair of strong arms which obviously belonged to a man. She had lifted her face from the person's chest, and saw a mop of black hair. She closed her eyes as she drank in his scent. He was human.

"Oi, wake up already. If you don't I'm gonna drop you off."

His voice was rough yet soothing. Like liquid velvet. She had apologized meekly then, and slightly wobbled when he settled her on her legs. Kana was about to thank the man when he suddenly hit her head with her fallen bag pack.

"You're Yura's friend right?" He'd said when she looked up at him, her face not concealing her confusion.

"Uh… yes… why?"

The man looked familiar as she looked at him. He was about to say something when Yura's voice called out to her. Kana turned around to her friend's voice, and nearly stumbled backwards when she was enveloped in a bear hug from the pale-faced Omyoji.

"Kana! What in the world were you thinking?"

Almost instantly, Kana started to cry. She remembered how confused that man was, and how Yura was trying to listen to her cracking voice, explaining to the Omyoji girl about giving up living. She remembered Yura standing rigid just moments before she slapped Kana hard on the face.

"Haven't you ever thought of me? You're saying that you lost all your friends, your family… then what am I? Answer me, Kana!"

Kana remembered promising Yura to live for her, and she remembered being accepted into the Keikain manor as a Omyoji trainee.

She had also remembered the time when her hopes of finding her one true love bloomed again. And that was what brought her to have her first kiss there. She still remembered how flustered the man was, which was funny because he was used to be the one to make others flustered with his smart words. But flustered he was when she kissed him.

"Don't think that just because I like you too, I won't be hard on you when it comes to training, Kana."

She had laughed then, and Yura was stupefied when she found out about her trickster brother, Ryuuji, was dating Kana. It was odd, to say the least, because even Yura wouldn't put her trust one hundred percent in her cunning brother. But Kana did.

Even now, when kana had lost both the people she had learned to love and cherish during her time with the Keikains, she could still feel the warmth of Ryuuji's lips when she tried to open her eyes.

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><p>The little white fox perked its ears as it heard its master stir in her deep sleep. The nine-tailed miniature fox hopped excitedly and climbed onto Kana's stomach, stopping just before her steadily-moving chest. It yipped, but she didn't answer it. Growling lightly, it hopped of her stomach and went to lick her ear, gently nibbling on her earlobe. It gave a satisfied yip when Kana stirred a bit more, calling out some man's name.<p>

Feeling particularly happy that its master was finally stirring in her sleep after three days in bed, the little fox licked Kana's lips, forcing the Omyoji to slowly open her eyes.

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><p>The first thing Kana saw as she opened her eyes was a pair of red round eyes staring back at her. A smile crept unto her face as she pat the white fur of the small fox yokai she'd saved three years ago.<p>

A giggle escaped her lips when the fox yipped happily and licked her nose.

"That tickles, Hotaru."

She tried to sit up, when a jolt of pain along the side of her body caused her to fall back into the soft futon. She heard a door being slid open and instinctively, she ignored the pain and sat up. She searched for her dagger that was always strapped to her right hip, but the pain intensified when she noticed she wasn't in her usual attire anymore.

"I see you've woken up."

Her head snapped up towards the familiar voice, and her eyes widened.

Red eyes, white hair, that face…

"Rikuo….kun?"

Said name crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the woman in the guest room. He averted his gaze when her stance began to relax.

"Wh-Why are you… where am I?"

Her brown eyes never left his face as Rikuo moved further inside to lean his back against the door frame. For a moment she noticed his hair was much shorter since the last she saw him at the train station, and she couldn't help but be reminded of his human counter-part. He looked just like the Rikuo she knew, and he was handsome.

"You were injured when you killed Hebidayu, three days ago. This is my house."

Hotaru yipped again as its short legs brought it to walk towards Rikuo. The little yokai excitedly walked around the white-haired yokai's legs.

Kana blushed when she realized she was staring, and looked down. Her eyes blinked in confusion when she realized her bandaged injury.

She wasn't wearing anything over the bandages covering her bosom. The bandages started three inches below her chest, holding the patch covering the cut the right side of her lower ribs and wounded upwards to cover her breasts, closing some scratches she acquired when she had fallen down hard into the dirt just after the fight, and the end was tucked neatly under her right armpit. Hotaru hopped towards her, and yanked the blanket covering her body southwards, revealing a great deal of skin when her flat stomach materialized right there for Rikuo to see.

Noticing the way Rikuo reluctantly averted his gaze, Kana realized something else before her face reddened immensely.

"Rikuo-kun you pervert!"

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><p>He had been wondering outside her room since the day she was brought in. Seeing no progress when Wakana had come out of the room disappointed, Rikuo decided he should wait a few more days. If she still didn't wake up after four days, he was going to shake her to wake up himself.<p>

The morning after Zen had treated Kana, a Tengu came and declared the Nura clan as his enemy. Karasu Tengu and his underlings had fought with the seemingly strong Onikui Tengu and it was after a few broken roofs and walls did they finally know the Tengu's reasons for intruding the Nura Manor.

"I have come for my master, Kana." He had said.

The smaller yokai in the manor were cowering in the kitchen, causing Wakana to step up to the intruding Tengu and demanded the fighting to stop.

"Kana named me Hiromi, and I came here for her."

To say that the household was surprised was an understatement. While Kurotabo and Kubinashi were questioning the possibility of Kana unsealing and taking the Tengu as her own, Kejoro had been practically drooling over the handsome Tengu. Contrary to human beliefs, the Tengu whom claimed to be named Hiromi –quite an odd name for a male yokai- took on the form as a handsome man, if they put aside the fact that he had wings.

After Wakana had so kindly told him what happened with his master, Nurarihyon had insisted the Tengu to stay at the manor, much to Rikuo's discomfort.

The Tengu had been interrogating him as if he was the one who had injured the woman.

"I'm the third head of this clan, I have no reason whatsoever to injure a person whom saved my life, especially a woman."

Hiromi had been quiet for a while, and after a few hours, he would bug Rikuo about his master again.

Then came the little nine-tailed fox yokai which came hopping out of the door the morning after Tengu's first night at the manor. According to Hiromi, the white little fox was Kana's underling too. It took on its shape as the white-sheathed double swords she had used to fight Hebidayu.

He thought Hiromi was weird, but Hotaru was even more weird.

The little yokai that so often barged into his room for the past mornings, waking him up from his sleep with its longue warm tongue, was a little fox, not a firefly.

Rikuo wasn't one to have pets, but the little white yokai was a little bit too likeable for him and he couldn't find himself annoyed with the nine-tailed miniature yokai. Based on his new-found liking to this white-furred bundle, he searched the whole manner calmly for the little yipping yokai on the third day of Kana's stay. Sensing the fox somewhere near Kana's room, he headed towards the general direction with the hope of finding the Omyoji awake. He had passed Kejoro and Yuki-Onna on his way, and he ignored the fact that Yuki-Onna was somehow mad at him when she didn't greet him cheerfully like she used to.

He slid the door open, and he was right, Kana was awake. But he hadn't predicted this.

Rikuo knew that his grandfather and his father were both perverts, based on what he heard when Kubinashi and Kurotabo were talking. He also knew about the time when Nurarihyon had confidently broke into Princess Yo's chamber and borrowed her for a night. But he wasn't like that.

Nura Rikuo was a man of honor, he would never look at a woman lustfully, and he never found the logic to do so when he had to keep his clan in check. And though his grandfather was a pervert himself, Rikuo was never exposed to explicit details concerning the intimacy normally shared between men and women, even when he was in his yokai form.

Now, standing in Kana's room, he hadn't realized how much he had actually missed her, either as a friend or as someone he cared deeply. Especially when it had been so long since he had seen her. Again, he wasn't a pervert like his two pioneers, but he couldn't help but appreciate the beauty presented to him.

So he had done just what any other man would do, he checked out the curves covered snuggly by the bandages. The little Hotaru had actually done him a favor of tugging at the blanket to show the white sliver of skin of her flat tummy. She was wearing a plain yellow hakama, thank god. At least she wasn't that exposed.

Before he could avert his eyes fully from her body, she had cried out 'Pervert'.

He was the third heir of the Nura Clan and yet seconds later he found himself being flung out of the room to land into a calm pond where the clam yokais were residing in with a big, healthy splash. He could hear flashes of black feather before he fell into the water.

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><p><strong>AN: I know, short chapter, right? I wanted to write more, but I'm not feeling good right now. My stomach's churning and I need to get **_**something **_**out of my tummy. Oh, and here are some extra knowledge here. I won't be putting up much since my tummy still hurts, but I hope this will do, until I update the fourth chap.**

***Hiromi - means 'abundant beauty'. If you watch Tactics, you'll know which Tengu I'm referring to.**

***Hotaru - means 'firefly'. There's a reason for this name.**

**It will be fully appreciated if you give me your reviews to this story, because reviews are what keep an author to write.**

**Hugs and kisses!**


	4. Chapter 4

**KANA**

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><p><strong>AN: Okay, so I've been so bored that a lot of stories aren't being updated, then I realized that I have no choice but to update as well. Sorry for making you wait, I really appreciate you guys who've made such a brave effort to read this story and even leave reviews. And I'm not talkin' about degrading comments, thankfully, your reviews are those of things I hold close to my heart and will remember 'em forever. You guys are just the most phenomenal beings in this world and I wouldn't have traded anything in this world for you guys. Love ya 'all!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Ch4<strong>

Nurarihyon laughed out loud as he heard the story from Aotabo, making the brown-haired woman sitting in the middle of the living room lower her head further. Her cheeks grew warmer when she heard Rikuo grumble something under his breath.

"I never thought I would live till the day when my own grandson would get thrown into the water by a woman's bodyguard."

Snickers were heard throughout the room and Kana lowered her head further, afraid of the pair of ruby red looking back at her. Hotaru yipped excitedly as it saw everyone grinning stupidly and hopped towards his new favorite youkai. Rikuo ignored the yipping fox as he crossed his arms in an act of superiority when he casted his eyes towards the Tengu sitting next to Kana.

His pride, his dignity, his ego was bruised overnight just because of Hiromi the moment the Tengu flung him out of Kana's room. It wasn't his fault that he got an eyeful of Kana's curves, Wakana should have clothed the human properly. And the fact that Hiromi was looking back at him warily just kind of ticked him off.

His thoughts were stunned when his grandfather slapped him in the back, and he had to stifle a cough. The old man still has his strength despite living for over 400 years. Damn it.

"I guess I was wrong to think that you're not interested in women, Rikuo."

Rikuo scowled like the rich brat he was, and Kana blushed furiously.

Yuki-onna was fuming, and Hiromi was more wary of the red-eyed youkai whom had the audacity to look at his master's body.

"Can you stop that now, old man."

As Nurarihyon's laughter died off, he tapped the pipe he was using and inhaled deeply. He let out a satisfied sigh, finally relaxing after such a long time since Rikuo defeated the rebels a few years back. He eyed the Omyoji amusedly whom was sitting politely on her heels with her head lowered. An Omyoji is supposed to be their arch enemies, yet he couldn't help but feel at ease with the young human. For a split second, his gaze slanted towards his grandson and couldn't miss the hint of a smirk playing on Rikuo's lips when Kana apologized immensely. Ah, Rikuo was quite the provocative type. Why hadn't he noticed that before?

"My deepest apologies again, Nurarihyon-sama. Hiromi was being over-protective of me, and I should have… worn something… more decent…" Kana didn't know if her face could be beyond scarlet at that moment.

Again, the first head of the Nura clan burst out laughing. "It's okay to address me simply as Ojii-chan. Ienaga Kana, isn't it?"

Kana looked up to meet gazes with the oldest youkai in the house hold and nodded meekly. "Yes?"

"It's not your fault actually. Wakana should have hurried redressing you and Rikuo shouldn't have been that… eager to see you." The old youkai ended his words with a knowing wink towards Rikuo.

The smirk widened a fraction when Kana blushed again. "I wasn't _eager. _She _did_ save my life… though I could have defeated Hebidayu anyways."

Suddenly the embarrassment Kana felt dissipated. "But you were injured, Rikuo-kun. If it wasn't because of me, you would have lost your head and your white hair, am I right? Don't you think I deserve a proper thanks from you, at least?"

An uncharacteristic smile graced Kana's features as she noticed the frozen expression on Rikuo's face. Served him right, she thought. He still had lots to explain to her, and she wanted answers for all those years she lived, not knowing what actually happened. She didn't even notice the silence that ensued just as she said those words to Rikuo, before Hiromi sighed and nudged her with his elbow.

Rikuo quickly recovered from his mild shock when Kana answered back, and held her gaze, his smirk directed fully at her. Two can play at this game.

"Thank you very much, Kana-_chan._"

Dumbly, Kana began to blink. Soon a dust of pink on her cheeks followed after. Like it or not, she lost to Rikuo in this act of defiance. She wasn't one to usually back down so easily, but the white-haired youkai just _had _to use his charm on her. She wanted to hit herself for still having unclear emotions towards the youkai she had once taken as a very good friend. As if he knew he was on the upper hand this time, Rikuo's smirk grew.

His grandfather cleared his throat, a sign to let the others in the room to leave him alone with the Omyoji and his only grandson.

Hiromi had been reluctant to leave his master behind with two unfamiliar youkai, but after she had flashed him a reassuring smile, he had Hotaru change into its sword-form before he slid the doors closed. She wanted answers, he knew that and he respected Kana's wishes. Although he reminded himself to always keep an eye on the young youkai whom it seemed to have had a special place in Kana's heart. Or always had been there in that spot in the first place.

He sighed as he lied on top of the roof, Hotaru –in its double sword form- lying next to him.

His master was a little bit too soft in the inside, and it was dangerous sometimes.

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><p>"I believe I really owe you one, Kana."<p>

Kana looked up from the floor to look at Nurarihyon. She gave a slow nod in reply, and the old youkai took this as a cue to continue.

"I also believe you have something to ask me… _us_… am I right?"

The blank look on her face was immediately changed to that of seriousness.

"I'm sorry if I sound rude, but I want to know what happened when I was in Kyoto."

Rikuo shifted his gaze somewhere else, not wanting to look back into Kana's brown eyes which spoke of the suffering she had gone through all those years. All the sufferings he knew were mainly caused by his clan… by him.

"The day after the earthquakes?"

Kana's fingers curled into tight fists. She fought the urge to yell out, 'Yes, what else?' but refrained herself at the very end.

"Yes, exactly. The day when the earthquakes happened, I was in Kyoto… I knew youkais had to do with the catastrophe…"

She knew some very strong youkai were involved in the crumbling of her house, the death of her parents… her harsh youth.

"Hagoromo Gitsune."

Both youngsters watched as Nurarihyon inhaled from his pipe, and blew out smoke from his nostrils. As if sensing Kana's confusion over the name he had revealed, the old youkai took out a dagger which was nicely carved and inked with intricate drawings on the scabbard and hilt.

"We were supposed to keep the incident confidential within our clan, but seeing that you're already involved in this mess… The name I just mentioned is another youkai… a strong one. Seeing that you spent most of your years with the Keikains, I assume you know this name, right?"

Kana's eyes dropped to the dagger the old youkai was holding as if he was holding a fragile lover, and wondered what that dagger meant to him before she nodded.

"I remember Yura-chan and Ryuji-kun…" The familiar pain in her chest made her stop for a while before she continued, "They have told me of Hagoromo Gitsune when I was first brought in as a trainee… It's known that the youkai was sealed away by their ancestor… and you helped the Keikain to defeat Gitsune."

Rikuo whom had been silent by the sidelines was minutely impressed with her knowledge. He missed the knowing look his grandfather shot at him when the old youkai continued.

"I did help Keikain defeat Hagoromo Gitsune… that was 400 years ago. And as you know, that fox was sealed as tight as a clam for the past hundreds of years… until eight years ago. When you and Rikuo here were both fifteen, a small group of lowly-ranked youkais planned an attack on our clan. It was when Rikuo and the others defeated them that we learned the real purpose of the whole rebellion."

Kana absently cocked her head to the side, strands of soft brown hair falling over her shoulder. She had missed the way Rikuo's eyes followed the minute movement of her hair when she spoke up.

"Rebellion?"

In an effort to restrain himself from being distracted by the smallest of her movements, he decided to reply to Kana's query.

"Surely you're aware that Hagoromo Gitsune lusts after power… she decided she needed my liver for the growing baby in her. I never knew about what she could do with my liver before Zen explained the advantages I have, being part youkai and human. Those rebels that Jiji mentioned just a while ago were recruited by her -in the promise of more power- were unfortunately some lower-ranked youkais from this clan… But they were wiped off just after their first invasion."

He waited long enough for her to nod before he continued. "But being a fox, you know how cunning they can be… So in order to get to me, Hagoromo Gitsune threatened to go after my friends… the humans I deem important to me…" Kana averted her gaze to prevent the slight blush coloring her cheeks. "however before we got to you and the others, she was a step ahead of us. Those earthquakes which destroyed your school and your house… she did it. She recruited a youkai capable of inflicting earthquakes."

Rikuo pushed himself to his feet and moved to stand behind his grandfather, his back leaning against the wall. He watched as Kana swallowed the lump in her throat and clenched her fists so tight, her knuckles turned white from the pressure. He wanted so much, _very _much to say more to her. To tell her he hadn't expected her to lose her family, her _life,_ overnight. He understood that pain in her eyes when he had talked about her destroyed house, her destroyed _home… _because he knew all-too-well the pain when he lost his father, the one man he had idolized as a hero for as long as he could remember. He desperately wanted to hold her and tell that he was sorry, because he couldn't deny the fact that he was still human, yet he had refrained himself when he heard her speak. Her voice was a mixture of a whisper and some emotion he assumed to be hurt when she spoke.

"What about their memories, then? Why am I the only one to remember all of you?"

Nurarihyon saw Rikuo's posture tense slightly and took this as a cue to answer for his grandson.

"We decided to perform a ritual that exterminates whatever connection our clan has to do with the humans Rikuo used to have acquaintance with, which include the termination of their memories they have concerning Rikuo and our clan… but somehow it seemed that this ritual didn't work with you and Keikain Yura… maybe it's because their manor was enforced with a kekkai to expel our abilities."

The silence that followed soon after the revelation was deafening that Rikuo had nothing else to do but watch as Kana bit her lower lip in an effort to bite back her tears. She looked up from her slumped position to look straight into his red eyes, and he inwardly cursed at the mixture of hurt, betrayal and suffering clouding her eyes, as well as the tears threatening to fall down any minute.

Nurarihyon closed his eyes, not knowing what to say to this poor woman. If he had his way, he would do anything to at least help Kana.

So he did what he seemed to be best at that moment. Help her recover the best way his clan had to offer. It was their carelessness that had led to her suffering. They should have known better than to have had left the Keikain Manor without confirming the effectiveness of the ritual done.

"Are your injuries healing?"

Kana took a deep breath in her last attempt to hold everything in. "Y-Yes, thank you for asking. I need to thank you too, if I haven't been brought in I could have died. Hiromi was separated from me on the way here, when I sensed Hebidayu."

Hearing the Tengu's name, Rikuo's ears perked up.

"Last I heard, the Onikui-Tengu was sealed somewhere in Sapporo. How did you manage to get him as your subordinate?"

Kana switched her gaze towards the younger youkai. She contemplated Rikuo's question, and produced a slip of paper written with various mantra which she kept inside the folds of her borrowed yukata.

"I unsealed Hiromi four years ago, just weeks after I heard about him. I heard news about the presence of a strong youkai in a small village nearby that eats children, and decided that I needed an extra hand in sealing that youkai."

Rikuo seemed impressed, but Kana didn't want to gloat on that. She wanted, no, _needed _to get out of the room which was beginning to feel stuffy and she just couldn't stand it. Clearing her throat, she pushed herself to her feet and bowed as best as she could.

"If you could excuse me, I'm not feeling quite well right now. If it's okay with you, I would like to rest."

"Yes, yes, of course, Kana-chan. Rikuo, please escort her to her room."

After a curt nod from his grandson and a reluctant nod from Kana, the two left the room, the rustle of Kana's borrowed yukata and Rikuo's hakama accompanied them as they stepped out of the sliding doors to the guest quarters.

* * *

><p>"Why did you do it?"<p>

"Do what?"

They were in front of Kana's room when she stopped short from opening her doors. With her back to him, the Omyoji clenched her hands. Trying to keep her anger in check, Kana replied with the most neutral voice she could muster, turning around just enough for her to see him with the corner of her eye. But she was poor at that, and instead she spoke up with her shaky voice.

"You wiped off our memories… well, you attempted to wipe me of my memories of you… why?"

"I did it to protect my friends."

Rikuo didn't know if he was imagining when he thought he saw a tear run down her cheek, because Kana had quickly averted her face forward, probably doing her best to glare at the sliding doors to her room.

"Why are you claiming us to be your friends?" She asked, almost inaudible.

When he didn't answer, Kana decided to continue.

"Do you know that by the time we reached third grade in Junior High, we already knew about you and your family. Yura-chan even added that you're the famous Nurarihyon's grandson."

He wasn't at all surprised. Of course he knew, Kiyo had been eyeing him wearily those last few days before they graduated from Junior High.

"I knew that already."

Kana didn't know where she found the courage to do so, but she let out a dry chuckle.

"Ah… yet you seem to never treat us as your friends…"

Partly annoyed at having Kana talk at him without looking him in the eyes like she used to, and partly feeling sick of the guilt enveloping his human heart, Rikuo crossed his arms over his chest.

"What are you implying?"

"What I'm implying is…" Kana spun around to face him and jabbed a finger against his chest. Her eyes were dangerously cloudy with tears just teasing to pour down in buckets but she stubbornly held them in.

"If we were your friends… you wouldn't have had to erase our memories! _If _we were friends, you wouldn't have brushed us aside from you when you were threatened by this Hagoromo Gitsune! _If, _Rikuo-kun… _If _we were friends of yours, if we were humans you deem _important _to you, why hadn't you let us help you? I know we didn't have any powers like yours, but at least we were your _friends_, Rikuo-kun! Who do you take us as? We are powerless, yes, but we were never cowards."

He didn't know if he was hearing right, because he just thought he had heard her say something about his human friends helping a youkai like him. For the first time after a period of time, he was speechless in front of the human woman standing in front of him. A Omyoji.

"I'm sorry."

He had said it.

It was so quiet, it was almost inaudible.

But Kana had heard it, and she swallowed thickly before she turned around to angrily wipe the tears; now streaming freely down her cheeks.

"Rikuo-kun you idiot." She said in between sobs.

Said name watched as the Omyoji turned around to give him one last glare, even with her teary eyes and the snot slowly trailing down from her nose, but it was a glare none the less, before she huffed out –rather childlike- before retreating into her chamber to leave him standing outside her room.

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><p>She couldn't believe it. Her master, THE Nura Rikuo was apologizing to a mere human.<p>

Tsurara couldn't help but clench her hands at her sides, her knuckles turning white.

Yuki-onna was not one to hate humans, especially since she herself had sworn to protect the humans governed by the Nura clan.

But seeing her master, her _crush, _being jabbed at the chest with the Omyoji's small fingers while the brown-haired woman was lashing out at her master. HER master.

Who was she to be lashing out on Rikuo like that?

She swore to protect the humans in that area, but seeing the door being shut at Rikuo's face, she couldn't imagine why her master hadn't drawn out his sword yet. If it wasn't because of Kejoro holding her back, Tsurara wasn't so sure the Omyoji would walk out the Nura manor without a frozen lung.

"Refrain yourself, Yuki-Onna." The big-breasted youkai had told the younger snow youkai.

Following Rikuo's movement away from Kana's chamber with her eyes, Tsurara replied Kejoro, her voice as icy as her hands.

"How could I refrain myself when Rikuo-sama is being jabbed on by that woman?" She had already walked towards her master, ready to barge into Kana's room to properly give the Omyoji a piece of her mind.

But Kejoro was fast to block her path. "Don't."

Frustrated, Yuki-Onna tried to glare at the taller woman but stopped when Kejoro spoke up again.

"It was our fault this happened, Tsurara."

It was as if a switch was turned off when Tsurara finally stepped back a few steps, the guilt in her eyes overpowering the rage she was feeling inside.

"I know, Kejoro. But... It hurts me, to see him dealing everything by himself."

Kejoro sighed. "I know..."

The busty youkai watched silently as the snow youkai walk away to return to her chores. A hand was brought up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. Her eyes snapped up towards a sound from the roof and she gasped.

Hiromi was standing on the roof, Hotaru yipping excitedly down at the long-haired youkai.

"A-Ah… Hiromi-san. What are you doing up there?"

The Tengu narrowed his eyes towards the busty youkai.

"I heard you and that snow youkai."

Kejoro mentally slapped her forehead. God, she and the mentioned snow youkai should have been more discreet. The Tengu which Kana had taken in was practically everywhere the Omyoji was, even when the human would be in one of the hot springs available in the Nura manor, Hiromi would always stay nearby. Preferably the roof top.

"I'm sorry, but Tsurara didn't mean what she said. You know, how emotional women can be."

The male youkai stared at Kejoro, skepticism written all over his handsome features, before he nodded.

"I think I know what you mean."

Kejoro breathed out, relieved that Hiromi didn't think too deeply of the whole jealousy situation. She was about to bid the handsome Tengu goodnight –reluctantly- when Hiromi leapt off the roof, Hotaru perched on top of his head to land gracefully in front of the long-haired youkai. Again, she was reminded of why she had often drooled over the Tengu the first hours he had stayed within the Nura manor.

Her wandering mind stopped to a screeching halt when he towered over her, his eyes boring into hers.

"But if you ever try to hurt Kana, I will never forgive you. You guys have no idea how much suffering she had gone through these past years."

His voice was so dangerously low that Kejoro had to swallow thickly before nodding in affirmative.

"Yes sir." She managed to not squeak out.

Hiromi stepped back, flapped his black wings, and flew back on top of the roof. Right above Kana's room.

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><p><strong>AN: Hello again, mah readers! I've actually wrote this down a few weeks ago, but I never got to update this chapter because you see, I can only use my right hand to type and write. I kinda fractured my left arm and a whole lot of other injuries decided to jump on me at once the moment I slipped off a flight of stairs so yeah… I fell down the stairs. I'm clumsy and this is one of the worse accidents I've got myself into. *grins stupidly***

**Aaaanyway, I hope you like this chapter and will continue waiting for my updates. I will never disappoint ya!**

**Hugs and kisses!**


	5. Chapter 5

**KANA**

**A/N; Hello! Haven't been writing an update for a while, ne? I'm really sorry for the delay, and hence, I made this loooong chapter for ya guys. I'm really very sorry, please don't be mad at me. Oh, and yes, I changed my username, hope ya like it. I can't think of another name. So anyways, this chapter contains mostly flashbacks from Kana's days with the Keikains. And probably a little bit more of RyuujixKana moments. I'm not sure, you decide yourself. Hope you enjoy this chapter.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>Ch 5<strong>

She could feel it, the way Hotaru's rough tongue licking her cheek to wake her up. Slowly, Kana opened her eyes, and for a moment she wondered if the Nura logo embroidered in the middle of the blanket covering her was a dream. She turned her head sideways to look at the closed doors when she heard childish voices laughing and joking around near her room. As she sat up, Hotaru yipped and excitedly circled its master once, twice, before it hopped cutely towards the closed doors. A smile stretched her lips and she made a move to open the doors for her playful companion.

"Okay, okay. Go and play with Hiromi-kun."

She opened the door a bit and Hotaru excitedly leapt out. The onmyouji shook her head, and turned around to tidy her futon. She stopped short when she saw the dagger lying motionlessly next to her pillow. With gentle hands, she picked up the dagger, snugly sheathed in the specially made bronze scabbard. There were carvings on the dagger; the carvings of the Inugami, and some kanji writing bearing the surname of the one who gave her the dagger five years ago.

_**Keikain Onmyouji**_

She mouthed the words as her fingers brushed against the embossed writing.

"_I don' see the reason why I should let ye roam aroun' without a weapon. Yer a walkin' danger hazard."_

A fond smile stretched her lips and pink dusted her cheeks when she recalled how he'd said those words when he'd given her the dagger. He had been so blunt, about her attracting danger to herself and being unusually clumsy. If she hadn't seen through the arrogant smirk he had on his face when he said she was a walking hazard, Kana wouldn't notice that he cared about her.

"Ryuuji-kun…"

The name escaped her lips without her even noticing it, and the smile on her face changed to that of sadness.

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><p><em>Subject: Ienaga Kana.<em>

_Sex: Female._

_Age: sixteen years three weeks and fifteen hours old._

_Occupation: Onmyouji Trainee.  
><em>

Kana watched as the clock ticked away. She tried shaking Yura's shoulders again, but the onmyouji mumbled something along the lines of 'five minutes' before she rolled to her side, bringing along the rumpled blanket that covered her the night before.

"Mou, Yura-chan! It's already nine! You have training to do, remember?"

As if being doused by cold water, Yura instantly sat up from her futon to grab the ticking clock on the dresser in their shared room. Her eyes widened dramatically.

"WHAAT? Kana, why didn' cha tell me before?"

Kana sighed as she saw Yura hurriedly taking out a change of cothes.

"I told you, but you kept saying five minutes every time I shake your shoulders."

Yura apologetically smiled as she stuffed a toothbrush in her mouth and prepared to dash to the bathroom. She slid the door open in a hurry that she almost collided into Ryuuji when she stepped out.

"O…Onii-chan!"

Kana was momentarily impressed at how well Yura could talk even with a toothbrush in her mouth. The older Keikain had a wicked smirk on his face as he looked down at his sister.

"Yer late. Again."

Yura muttered an apology, and nearly squeaked when her brother chased her off with a threat.

"Tch. Brat." He muttered under his breath before he laid his eyes on the newcomer still sitting on the floor next to Yura's untidy futon.

Kana blinked as he looked at her blankly, as if figuring out how she got into the Keikain manor in the first place. She had already donned on the black and white trainee attire she was given, and he couldn't help but notice that for a Tokyo citizen, she looked quite fitting in a onmyouji attire.

Not knowing what should be done on her first day as a trainee, Kana suddenly felt the need to greet Ryuuji. She broke the silence by bowing and followed by a morning greeting.

"Good morning, Ryuuji-sama."

When she looked up, Ryuuji frowned.

"Why are you calling me Ryuuji–sama?"

Kana blinked owlishly. Sensing that the girl was still clueless, Ryuuji waved the suffix off before the silence between them once again returned.

"Yer a trainee, right?"

The brown-haired girl whom he kept referring to as the infamous 'Tokyo Onna' nodded. He turned around, his back facing her as he said,

"If ye wanna train here then don' slack off."

"Excuse me?"

Ryuuji turned around to look at her with the corner of an eye before he spoke up again.

"Follow Yura when she comes back from her shower. An'-"

Kana saw the previous wicked smirk ghosting on his lips before he spoke his last words that morning before he left.

"Don' be late. Ye'll understan' why."

There was something creepy about the way Ryuuji said that, that it made her uncomfortable when she tailed behind Yura towards the Onmyouji's training ground.

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Thirty minutes later, she understood what Ryuuji meant by 'don't be late'. Kana stared wide-eyed from the side lines, a broom in her hand as she watched Yura sparring with Ryuuji. It was more like the older Keikain was toying with the onmyouji girl, using his water shikigami to throw Yura off-balance.

Kana winced when Garo got a bite off of the onmyouji girl, sending Yura flying twenty feet from her original position. She casted her eyes towards Ryuuji, standing before his sister with his trademark mirthless smirk on his face. Yura managed to inflict some cuts to his chest and upper arms, but he was still standing in his hakama and matching black kimono.

"How many times do I hav' ta tell ye that trickery is also one of the Onmyo-jutsu, Yura?"

Kana continued to watch as the dried leaves which she was supposed to clean were left behind in a messy pile. Her small hands gripped the broom tighter when she watched as Yura blasted off a water bomb from her shikigami. Ryuuji managed to dodge, and with ease he gave one-word orders to his water shikigami.

The broom dropped from Kana's hands when she saw Yura knocked down and fell in a heap of dirty red and white clothes. Her sleeves were torn and the once-white outer layer of her kimono had dried mud all over.

"Stop…"

Kana didn't know where her voice disappeared. She swallowed and tried again, when Ryuuji gave another order for Garo to attack his sister without a moment's hesitation. To say that she was surprised was an understatement. She had heard Yura telling her about how Ryuuji was a trickster and an infuriating brother, but Yura had never told her how ruthless Ryuuji was when it came to training. She couldn't understand why Ryuuji was so hard even on his own sister. Kana knew that Yura was a capable Onmyouji, the pale-faced girl could summon four shikigami at once. But Ryuuji was stronger.

"Garo, bite."

Kana lifted the skirts of her black hakama and tried to climb over a boulder to reach Yura's heaving body. Garo swished past her, and the force of it knocked the girl backwards to land on her behind.

"Stop…" She said again, her voice louder than before. But the commands kept coming, and Yura's pained voice filled Kana's ears that it hurt her.

Kana didn't know what came to her when she forced herself to stand back up and force her way over the boulder separating her from her friend. Her best friend. Her only friend whom she only had, the only sister she could depend on.

She didn't want to lose Yura too.

"Garo, devour."

With all her might, Kana managed to climb over the large boulder and rushed towards Yura. She heard Yura gasp as she blindly blocked Ryuuji's attack, her eyes screwed shut.

"K-Kana!"

"Please stop!"

Ryuuji cursed and rushed before the girls to deflect his own attack with a hand.

"Stupid woman! What were-"

Her eyes stopped him.

"Ryuuji-sama, please… stop…"

Yura watched as her friend looked up into Ryuuji's face, her round brown eyes bore into his even as tears clouded her eyes.

"Why are you so mean? Yura-chan's your sister, right? How… How could you?"

"Kana… what are you doing?"

Said name turned towards the girl, still in her arms. "B-But Yura-chan…"

Ryuuji fought the urge to roll his eyes. He noticed the hand he used to deflect his attack a few minutes ago bleeding, and without even flinching he tore off a sleeve to wrap around his hand. His eyes turned towards Kana, who still had her head bowed and her shoulder hunched, a useless effort to not cry over a dirty and injured Yura.

What was wrong with the woman? Was she crazy, stupidly trying to block his attack with her own body without a second thought?

_His_ attack?

Whoever Yura's friend was, he really didn't like it that she had the audacity to interrupt Yura's training.

"Oi, woman."

Kana lifted her head slowly, and her round brown eyes bravely looked at him.

"You were suppos'd ta rake the dried leaves, idiot. Why did ye throw yerself in fron' of my Garo?"

The girl blinked owlishly at Ryuuji, and for a split second he thought that her eyes were ridiculously pretty, even with the unshed tears. He scowled when the thought flitted through his head.

"Y-You were about to-"

"Kill Yura?"

Meekly, Kana nodded. It actually ticked Ryuuji. Who did she think he was? He was no bastard who would kill his own sister. He had a heart too, damn it. He was just a little ruthless. 'Little' being the keyword.

Yura was speechless for a while when she looked at Kana. The brown-haired girl was serious?

Even though her stomach still hurt from Ryuuji's attack, Yura managed to chuckle.

"What, Kana? Don' tell me ya actually thought that Nii-chan would kill me? We were trainin', silly."

Still dumbfounded, Kana frowned and looked at Ryuuji, as if he could explain the situation better. His scowl deepened instead.

"E-Eh? You weren't… I mean…you were… training? B-But you looked as if you were serious…"

Ryuuji cursed under his breath and gripped Kana by the elbow to lift her into a standing position.

"If I was serious Yura would be dead after five minutes already."

Yura managed to stand by herself and dusted her clothes before she shot a glare towards Ryuuji. "Hey!"

Ignoring Yura, Ryuuji motioned toward the mess of dried leaves by the river bank with his wrapped hand.

"A trainee can't join the real trainin' before ye complete the ten household chores. Ye just screwed yer first task, what were ye thinkin' rushin' out like that… hey, ye listenin'?"

Kana didn't even notice when Ryuuji had stopped talking; her eyes were glued to his injured hand as he talked about the dried leaves… as if the blood seeping through the wrapped cloth around his injured hand was the most normal thing to happen in the world.

"Oi, woman,"

He called out to her, and he nearly backed off when she wrapped her hands gently around his injured hand as if it would break any moment.

"Ryuuji-sama… your hand's injured."

She had looked at him then, the tears were forming again but were never rolling down.

Why was the woman crying? He couldn't understand what else he did to make her want to cry again. She couldn't be crying for him right? She couldn't be worrying over his bloody hand, right?

The idea of _her _worrying about _him_, Yura's mean brother, Ryuuji, the trickster of all mankind who, in her sense, tried to kill his own sister was just preposterous. It was impossible for someone to even feel sorry for him. He was a conman, people could never know what played in his head and thus it was understandable that nobody really felt sorry for him.

With that in mind, he pulled his hand away.

"So what if my hand's all bloody? The leaves are a mess, ye should-"

Kana stepped closer towards the older Keikain and once again she held his hand in hers, a frown on her forehead.

"You gave me a place to stay, at least let me treat your hand. Maybe bring you to a doctor to mend these wounds."

Yura inspected the extent of damage on her attire as she replied for a scowling Ryuuji.

"We don't really go to the doctors, people would get suspicious of us if they see the extent of our wounds."

Long, dark lashes lowered to hide brown eyes as she thought of something when she tugged Ryuuji's hand closer.

"Listen, woman-"

"Then let me do the bandages. I can treat these kinds of wounds."

Yura stopped dusting her back when she looked at Kana, her eyes widened. "Really?"

Ryuuji, annoyed at having some woman holding his hand in her disturbingly small ones, made a move to take his hand back when Kana tugged back. She was quite rough when she did so, and Ryuuji fought himself not to wince at the grip she had on his hand.

"I thought you said I was mean to Yura."

The frown on Kana's forehead disappeared and her eyes lowered, unfocused. Strands of hair covered her face as she spoke up.

"You are. You're a trickster who beats his own sister."

He was used to others calling him a conman and he himself had acknowledged that he was born to use his clever words to trick others but somehow hearing it from her, made him feel uneasy. And it pissed him off because he didn't know why.

"There you have it, so gimme back my hand."

Kana stepped closer towards Ryuuji, his hand still in hers. She looked up then, a blush on her cheeks and her eyes bright.

"But you injured your hand because of my foolishness. You actually do care about Yura, right? So let me help you treat your hand, Ryuuji-sama."

_Idiot. Stupid, stupid woman._

He didn't know why it bothered him so when they headed to the medical rooms and when Kana started to dab the wet cloth on his wounds to clean them. Yura was resting in the room next to them after Kana had tended to her injuries. Ryuuji was a bit reluctant to let Yura sleep the day off, but when he saw Kana looking at him with her bright, _bright_ eyes… he relented. Grudgingly so.

He hissed when alcohol was gently dabbed onto the wounds, and Kana apologized before she swabbed the wounds gently.

"It doesn't hurt."

Kana looked at him, a dark brow raised. "If it didn't hurt you wouldn't have reacted like that, Ryuuji-sama. Now, if you can, please stay still. I'm trying to bandage your hand."

She lowered her head as she focused on her task, and he had to admit she was good with bandages. Strands of her shoulder-length hair slipped from her shoulders and the ends brushed his arm.

She had nice hair.

Ryuuji watched silently as she talked about changing the dressing and bandages while her hands gently but neatly dealt with the cloth.

"I'm sorry again, Ryuuji-sama. It was my fault that you had to block that attack. Yura-chan told me she would have dodged it but I suddenly ran towards her… I'm really sorry. It worries me to know that your hand got injured."

Something fluttered in his stomach when she said those words.

She really meant it. She felt sorry.

He had just met this woman, but she had worried about him when he injured his hand. He had just met this woman and known her for less than five days, but she managed to make him injure his hand to block his own attack. He had just known Ienaga Kana for less than a week, but he felt oddly good that she actually worried for his injured hand.

He was turning crazy. Was it the side effects of lying too much?

"I won't die tomorrow just because of this, you don't need to worry so much."

To his surprise, Kana smiled up at him as she finished her work. She didn't notice the slight widening of his eyes when she used a sleeve to cover her mouth as she laughed softly.

"Of course you won't, but at least you'll have someone worrying over you. Yura-chan said she would rather go training with Mamiru-san than worry over you."

A vein popped on his temple even as the corner of his mouth kicked up into a smirk. _Brat._

He watched as Kana stood up and cleaned the items she used before she headed for the door. Before she excused herself, she turned around and made a move to bow when Ryuuji spoke up.

"Don't add –sama to my name. Yer not my servant."

Kana blinked, and a blush coloured her cheeks as she smiled at him before she nodded.

"I'll excuse myself then, Ryuuji-kun."

Ryuuji-kun.

He liked that.

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She tiptoed as she tried to reach the pole; a damp linen in her hands. It was the last batch of laundry for the day and if she finished this, she would be taken in officially as a onmyouji trainee. Smile lines appeared on her cheeks as she smiled, even when sweat rolled down her temples. She couldn't wait to train with Yura, it seemed fun enough. It was months ago when she got orphaned, and she couldn't even remember why she even agreed to become a onmyouji. Maybe because she wanted revenge, but she somehow realized that revenge doesn't seem so rational and not her. It was later that she realized she wanted to be part of the Keikain Omyoji when she saw Yura and Ryuuji sparring for the third time after the incident where she nearly got maimed by Garo.

Instantly her thoughts went to the older Keikain.

Kana never met someone who tricked others as easily as he did. And it was odd, for someone who was so skilled in trickery; people seem to forget that when he would say there was a tiger after them, they would actually believe it when in reality he was just on one of his prank roll. It seemed so simple to him, as if he was breathing air. She was tricked by him countless times already, ever since she helped to mend his wounded hand.

He never thanked her for the bandages yet.

Maybe she should ask him to work on his manners. Yura told her before that it was hard to see Ryuuji apologize or thank anyone because he was used to doing things himself. But on seldom occasions when he would be thanking a person, it would be priceless.

To her eyes, he seemed like a nice enough man. Maybe she could milk out a 'thanks' from him. Maybe she would even get him to smile… or smirk.

She liked it when a corner of his mouth would kick up even for just a while.

"Ryuuji-kun…" Unknowingly she whispered out his name, and she began to feel the beginning of a blush on her cheeks.

Kana gasped and looked around warily before she slapped herself.

What was she doing, thinking of a man? And not just any other man, it was Keikain Ryuuji. None other than Yura's brother whom tricks anyone he sees in his path.

The wind suddenly picked up pace and the damp linen in her hands slipped off the highest laundry pole.

"Mou, it wasn't easy to reach that." She pouted as she tiptoed again to reach the highest pole.

An arm reached out from behind her and plucked off the damp linen from her hands to be slung over the pole easily. Gasping in surprise at the action, Kana quickly turned around, ready to thank her hero. The words of appreciation and gratitude stuck in her throat however, as her eyes met none other than a sweaty Ryuuji whom was probably just after a round of training.

"Ryuuji-kun!"

Said name backed away from her a few steps and rested a wooden katana on a shoulder.

"Yer welcome, ojou-sama who couldn't even do laundry properly."

He had just finished training with Mamiru when he spotted her by the laundry area, clumsily doing the last batch of laundry. Watching her smiling by herself made him wonder just what she was thinking about. It kind of surprised him when he saw her doing the laundry, because the task was supposed to be the last one before she actually trained as a onmyouji. It didn't really sit well with him because it was still a fact that she was a Tokyo girl, a city girl, usually un-designed for household chores. Or maybe she was different?

Ryuuji raised a brow when he saw her slapping herself after she said something. He couldn't lip read so he would never know what caused her face to heat up. The wind had blown off the last piece of linen from the uppermost laundry pole, and she was struggling to hang it back onto its place. She was standing dangerously on her tiptoes -oblivious to the fact that she could slip forward and crush her nose by doing that- and he had decided he was feeling quite merciful that day and he had thought it was only natural for him to reach out from behind her.

Strands of soft brown hair had tickled the underside of his chin as he reached out from behind her and he couldn't help but notice that her hands were indeed small.

Kana decided to forgo the arrogant tone he used to address her as she pouted. "The… The wind was strong and…"

"And yer from Tokyo. I understand."

Dumbly, Kana blinked at him. Why was he being sharp-tongued so early in the afternoon? Realization hit her when she noticed he was just probably doing that because he hadn't expected her to complete the ten household chores in a few weeks, when in fact she was just a 'Tokyo girl' as he had put it a few weeks before. Just because she was from Tokyo, it never meant that she lacked basic skills.

Ryuuji stayed rooted to his spot a few feet from her and studied her for a moment, before he turned around to probably find Yura to play a few pranks on her.

"Ryuuji-kun,"

Said name stopped and turned around, enough to see her with an eye. She looked as if she was thinking of something to say before she suddenly smiled sweetly.

"How's your hand doing?"

He lifted his hand to show her before he dropped it to his side. "Fine."

She was silent for a moment before she spoke up again. "You're welcome, Ryuuji-kun."

The male turned around to fully face her, clueless. Innocently, the brown-haired girl smiled at him.

"I think I deserve a 'thank you' for that, ne?"

It took him a few seconds to digest what she meant when he finally, reluctantly, said a silent 'thanks' before he walked away.

The soft laughter that followed after halted him in his steps. "That's better. You're most welcome, Ryuuji-kun."

Unknowingly, a corner of his mouth lifted up a fraction as he walked away, wooden sword on a shoulder, a smirk on his face.

This woman was kidding him. He seldom thanked others.

And yet, he felt an odd sense of relief when she answered his silent 'thank you'.

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"Yer aim sucks."

Kana ignored the voice behind her, and tried again. She tightened her hold on the bow and pulled the arrow, she closed her left eye as she aimed for the bull's eye, and released.

She pouted when the arrow flew off course and landed somewhere in the bushes.

She really sucked. And to make matters worse, Ryuuji was observing her, making arrogant remarks. She turned towards him.

"If I'm so bad at this, then why don't you show it to me, Ryuuji-kun?"

Ryuuji smirked. "Gimme that."

His hand brushed against hers as she handed him the bow, sending tingles up her arm and shivers down her spine. When it seemed that he wasn't at all affected by that brief touch, Kana mentally scolded herself.

What was wrong with her?

"Stand there an' watch, Tokyo Onna."

The sleeves of the kimono top he wore slid up his forearms, showing the muscles tighten as he pulled the bow string. His face remained relaxed as he aimed at the bull's eye Kana had been aiming but failing to hit for the past few hours, and with a smirk ghosting his lips, he let go of the arrow. It plunged right in the middle of the round wooden plank. Turning to her with a cocky smirk on his face, he jabbed a thumb at the spot he had perfectly aimed.

"Bull's eye."

Kana grudgingly agreed to him teaching her how to aim properly, and they spent the evening firing arrows. It was only when Kana's stomach growled did they stop, and realised that they have skipped lunch and the sky darkening.

Ryuuji didn't forget to tell her to meet up again the next morning to refine her archery skills before he allowed her to hurry for dinner. Kana nodded eagerly, smiling at him as she ran excitedly to tell Yura of her newly-acquired skills. He watched her brown ponytail bounce as she excitedly hurried to take a bath, and only when she disappeared from his sight completely did he turn around to head towards his own chamber.

He nearly ran into Hidemoto.

The jovial shikigami grinned. "You like her don't you?"

Knowing better than to deny, Ryuuji settled on ignoring that question and walked past the shikigami.

"What are ye doin' roamin' around?"

The summoned shikigami clad in white clothes followed Ryuuji as the man turned into a corner.

"Yura-chan summoned me, but she's now busy doin' somethin' else. If I remember correctly, she said she was goin' to the onsen with Kana-chan... and left me to play alone. Hey, I have to say that she's very close to that Tokyo-chan, as if they were long-lost sisters… like a family, no?"

Ryuuji raised a brow as Hidemoto giggled mischievously. "Oh my, just imagine Kana-chan carrying our name. Keikain Kana. It has a nice ring to it, right?"

Instantly Ryuuji's stoic face changed features to that of a grimace.

"Quit it. She's not of marriageable age."

Hidemoto covered his eyes using the back of his hand and sighed dramatically. "Ah, Ryuuji-kun… in my days women were married off to men at ages as early as fourteen. And I didn't say anything about marrying her to this clan."

Ryuuji narrowed his eyes as he observed the gleeful looking shikigami, and wondered if it was true that such a weird man had been the famous Hidemoto he had idolized since he was a boy. Shrugging the ghost's weird remarks, he continued to walk towards his chamber. He stepped into his room as he slid the door open, and ignored Hidemoto's whining of 'boring young guys'.

He changed into a plain yukata and took out a new change of clothes. Noticing that the annoying ancestor called 'Hidemoto' was nowhere in sight, Ryuuji made his way to the indoor onsen for a bath to soothe his worn out biceps. Sighing as he lowered himself into the onsen, he watched as he flexed his hands. He hadn't done archery in a long time, as it wasn't really his forte to be honest. But it was one of the skills the Keikain authorities had drilled into his training as a kid, and it was also a skill needed to be learned by every onmyouji training, just in case they will face a situation when shikigami can't be summoned in the future. Like every other onmyouji trainee, Yura had sucked at aiming too, but she got better in a short amount of time. And because of that, also to the fact that she was the only heiress in the house, she was one of the highly-doted onmyouji once she graduated the training.

The sound of feminine laughter from the other side of the male onsen made him incredibly aware that instead of the usual whining of Yura, this time there was another voice laughing with her. He couldn't really hear what they were talking about, but he could hear Kana's distinct laughter. Instantly, involuntarily, the sight of her nose crinkling whenever she laughed took over his mind.

What was he going to do with her?

Earlier, when Hidemoto pointed out that he liked the Tokyo Girl, it was hard for him to deny that fact.

If he had to be honest, he never liked the girl in the first place. It was mostly due to the fact that the brunette was friends with Nura Rikuo, that one-of-a-kind yokai. He abhorred youkais, and the first time Yura had bought Kana to the Keikain House, the girl reeked of youkai. He made a point then and there that he would never let Yura be so close to the girl. But when he saw how Yura had been so worried over the girl when she had been missing, and only to find that she was orphaned, he couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit sorry for her.

She lost her parents in a single night, and to be nowhere near her parents when her home crashed down to the earth, it was definitely something to be devastated about. And he was the least bit surprised when he saw her ready to throw herself off of that building. No one deserved to live like that. Maybe he did, but not someone like Kana, whom didn't even know why she was dragged into this mess, into the war between the youkai clan and the onmyouji family.

He heard Kana's laughter again, and he couldn't stop that warm tingling feeling in his stomach.

Ryuuji couldn't even know when he had started feeling… things for the girl. She was Yura's friend, and it didn't seem right at all. He was not the kind of man to take advantage of someone just because that person is his sister's friend… well, Rikuo was an exception; he would gladly fight that red-eyed youkai the next time he saw Rikuo with his sister again… but it was just not _him_. It wasn't like him to fall for a girl whom had foolishly, _accidentally, _undid a seal the Keikain Onmyouji had put on a haunted house in a nearby village; thus causing some small youkais to wander around said village stealing freshly-harvested fruits. The youkais had been sealed again, easily, but it had ticked off Ryuuji for he knew that Kana hadn't really unsealed the youkais accidentally. He had overheard her meekly confessing to Yura that she had felt sorry for the weeping cubs of the fox youkais so she had tampered with the seal and made it look as if it had been an accident.

Another fact was that being from Tokyo, Kana spoke with perfect sentences. Who spoke perfect sentences, nowadays? Growing up in the countryside, most Keikains almost never interact using perfect Japanese. When she joined them, whenever one of them happens to talk to her, they had to repeat at least twice just so that she could catch up with what they were talking about. She had learned to understand them better over the time she spent there, and he would be lying if he said he didn't find it cute when she would try and communicate using their slang. She would press her lips into a straight line, attempt a slang or two, then she would blush and giggle self-consciously when she couldn't make it sound right.

A scowl reached his face when Hidemoto's words rang through his head again.

Fine, he liked her. He didn't know why, but it just… happened. He wasn't stupid enough to tell her though, because she would just freak out and leave the manor. He didn't want her to leave. As much as he hated the fact that Kana was a Tokyo Girl, a City Girl, training as a onmyouji out of all things, he actually liked to see her in that black-and-white trainee outfit. And he kind of liked having her around because unlike Yura, whom seemed to smell it when he had a prank readied for her, Kana was amusing to watch as she was easily affected by his tricks.

And she was the first woman to worry about him.

She wore her heart on her sleeve. As disturbing as that was to him, he couldn't help that he liked it when she worried about him.

He liked her, damn it.

The frustrating revelation had him curse under his breath and he slid his body lower into the onsen to let the hot water submerge him.

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Kana took a deep breath as she pulled the string, aiming for what she hoped was a bull's eye. Ryuuji stood closely behind her, his left hand over her left hand which held the bow, while his other hand covered her right hand firmly as he applied a little of his strength to pull the arrow. His chin brushed her temple as he spoke up near her.

"As I told ye before, yer arm must be relaxed when pulling an arrow, but firm enough as to not let this thin' fly off the string prematurely."

He stopped to glance at her, and she replied with a nod, her soft strands brushing his cheek teasingly. He tried not to swallow, and fortunately enough, his voice remained indifferent as he nudged her legs apart, using his foot.

"And yer posture must be right, don' focus your bodyweight onto one leg only, ye'll be eatin' dirt before ye know it if ye shoot an arrow like that."

Kana cleared her throat, trying to keep her blushing face to cool down when she felt the warmth of his body seeping through his clothes. He was practically hugging her from behind, in the middle of the archery training grounds. Even if he probably didn't feel anything even as he had her back pressed against him, she had never been held by a guy before. Touched; yes. But held with her back pressing against another body? Definitely a big no.

But it felt quite nice.

It made her feel protected.

"Ye listenin'?"

She gasped, and nearly let go of the arrow. Ryuuji effortlessly tightened his hold over her hand and applied more of his strength into keeping the arrow from shooting off of the stretched string.

"Y-Yes… I'm listening. Continue, please."

Without suspecting her blushing face and her strange voice when he tightened his hold, Ryuuji adjusted both her and his posture to aim for the bull's eye.

"Do ye know where yer gonna aim at?"

Kana nodded, and barely knocked Ryuuji's chin with her hard head. "The… The bull's eye."

"Right. So now I'm gonna let go of yer hand."

He slowly let go of her hands, and stepped away from her and watched as her small hands tried to keep stretching the bow string, ready to be released.

"Can I shoot now?" She said that as she felt the strain her arms were experiencing from keeping her hand from releasing the arrow. She could feel her arms beginning to tremble from all the strain.

Ryuuji nodded. "Go for it."

Kana released the arrow, letting out the breath she had no idea she was holding. She watched as the arrow shot twenty-feet across from her spot and her eyes blinked as it plunged at a spot just inches below the 'X' mark.

He couldn't help the small smirk tugging the corner of his mouth when she turned around to beam a smile at him. Her flushed face broke into gleeful laughter as she pointed at the arrow.

"Look, Ryuuji-kun! I'm improving! Isn't that great?"

Without waiting the male to answer, she skipped happily towards the arrow, perched two inches below the centre of the wooden plank. Her eyes were round and bright as she marvelled the stuck tip. She missed the way a certain onmyouji softened his gaze as he observed her.

He wanted her.

Ryuuji knew that thought was so unlike him. But that was exactly what he thought as he saw the way she laughed gleefully at her achievement. It amazed him, that she could be so happy even when the arrow didn't even hit the bull's eye. But there she was, cheering over the fruits of her hard work for two hours since eight that morning. A feeling akin to pride swelled deep inside him as she came skipping towards him, the arrow -now plucked off the board- in her hands.

"I think that's good enough, right?"

He nodded, and suddenly Kana smiled warmly at him.

"What?"

She giggled and unwillingly, her cheeks warmed up. "Thank you, Ryuuji-kun."

They stood there, looking at each other. It was a few silent, peaceful minutes when Ryuuji answered with a smirk. He turned around, his back to her as he murmured 'yer welcome' to her before leaving her there. She was still smiling at his retreating back when Yura found her holding an arrow in one hand.

"There you are, Kana. What 'cha doin?"

Kana giggled gleefully and showed the arrow in her hand. "Ryuuji-kun helped me improve my archery skills!"

Yura blinked, trying to process what she heard from Kana. "He wha'?"

Kana hugged the bow close to her chest as she looked towards the general direction where Ryuuji had walked away. She smiled shyly, a blush coloring her cheeks.

"He helped me train. He was very patient and when I nearly hit the bull's eye, he said I was good enough. Isn't that great?"

Yura narrowed her eyes and poked Kana in the cheek, the brown-haired girl didn't even flinch and her eyes were still staring at nothing in particular.

"Kana... don't tell me..."

Kana blinked at her, tilting her head to the side. "Hm? What is it, Yura-chan?"

Yura rested her forehead against Kana's, and ignored the sudden blush coloring Kana's cheeks, she narrowed her eyes as if she just found out something.

"You like my brother."

Kana gasped, and quickly spun around to hide her reddening face. "Wh-What a-are you talking about? I don't..."

Yura sighed irritably, and threw up her hands in the air. "Oh, come on! Kana, I'm a girl, and you're as close as I can have as a sister. You have those sparkling eyes whenever you talk to him, ya know? An' you have that cute blushing face when you two bump into each other, and for god's sake, you even _smile _at him even when he's not looking. That, Ienaga Kana, is a sign that a woman is in love."

Kana blinked dumbly at Yura as she turned to look at the Keikain heiress. "R-Really?"

Yura smiled and held Kana's shoulders so that she could face the Onmyouji trainee properly.

"Yep. An' if that's not enough, it's as if there's the word 'Love' written on yer forehead."

"Is it that obvious, Yura-chan?"

Yura shook her head. "I don' know about the others, but to me, it became pretty much obvious just a few seconds ago. Really... what do you see in him anyway?"

Kana scratched the underside of her chin, and smiled sheepishly. "I don't really know... it just... happened I guess..."

She looked up at Yura and saw the pale-faced Onmyouji giving her a skeptical look, and Kana swallowed. Should she tell Yura? She finally sighed and decided that this was Yura she was facing. Her best friend.

"I mean, I... At first, I came here with the intention of seeking revenge, you know... because my parents were the only ones that I had, our family had no relatives... My mom ran away from home when she was twelve, and my dad hadn't been much different from her."

Yura nodded. "Yeah, I remember you telling me that your mother married your dad when you were three, right? And they eloped... or somethin' like tha'."

Kana smiled sadly as she traced her fingers over the length of the wooden bow that she was still holding.

"If it weren't for you, I would've been lonely... and when you convinced the elders to take me in... I felt very happy... and for a while, I forgot that I was supposed to seek revenge... and then... little by little, I realised that... revenge isn't everything. And then when I saw you training with Ryuuji-kun... I realised that maybe if I became and Onmyouji like you guys are, maybe I could be one of you... A part of your family. And Ryuuji-kun had been so kind to me, and I just can't help it that I fell for him."

A smile reached her lips again, and suddenly she blushed when she noticed from the corner of her eye that Yura was looking at her, smiling. She shyly smiled back.

"I-Is it wrong? I mean, I understand if you'll hate me after this but-"

Yura giggled, and wrapped her arm around Kana's shoulders. "Why would I hate you? C'mon, let's tell Onii-chan..."

Kana gasped, mortified by the notion. She pulled away from Yura's arms and flailed her arms about.

"I-I can't! I don't know how he'll react to me, Yura-chan! It's just a crush, okay?"

Yura pouted. "Mou, you're such a coward. You're always like this, ya know? And look wha' happened to Nura-kun. You lost to Oikawa Tsurara before you even started!"

Kana looked at Yura pleadingly, and flashed the brightest puppy eyes, and Yura's annoyance crumbled to pieces. She threw her hands up in defeat.

"Okay, okay. Geez, tha's cheatin' ya know? Fine, I'll keep this secret between us. C'mon, let's take a break. I'm hungry already and it's not even noon yet."

"Aye, aye!"

Yura laughed when Kana answered her with the weird accent she learned, and pulled the brown-haired girl with her to find something entertaining to do. A smirk ghosted her lips, as she thought about Kana being in love with Ryuuji.

Her trickster brother would be in for a big surprise.

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><strong>

He could feel his left brow ticking in premature annoyance and he rounded another corner leading to the garden, Hidemoto hot on his heels. They were supposed to be discussing about the new threat of Hagoromo Gitsune, not talking about the new hot stuff happening in Keikain manor. The new hot stuff which was apparently the new brown-haired trainee from Tokyo.

"Aah~ She seems to be the only available woman here aside from Yura-chan and the boys have been hitting on her. It worries me, Ryuuji-kun. Aren't you worried? She's too sweet to let them know she's not interested."

Ryuuji rounded another corner, his pace picking up in hopes that the ghost would get it and leave him alone. Through barely contained anger, he managed to reply Hidemoto.

"I'm not interested if you have nothin' else to say concernin' Hagoromo Gitsune. And it ain't my business to worry over the Tokyo Onna."

Hidemoto giggled and flapped his fan open to cover his mouth as he continued to giggle teasingly.

"Oh, but it is, since she has already set her eyes on a man... here, in this house."

Ryuuji didn't stop, but his steps slowed down slightly. His eyes narrowed as he tried to process what Hidemoto was saying.

"And wha' do I have to do with this?"

Hidemoto opened his mouth to reply when suddenly he collided with Ryuuji's back as the much younger Kaikain nearly fell backwards as he bumped into Kana.

Hidemoto had to stifle a laugh as Ryuuji's head snapped backwards when Kana hit his chin with the top of her head.

"S-Sory, Ryuuji-kun!"

He was still seeing starts in the middle of daylight when he heard her voice. Grumbling, he cursed Hidemoto when the ghost disappeared suddenly to let him deal with the red-faced woman whom he belatedly noticed was clad in the black-and-white onmyouji attire. She looked up at him, and for some reason, she blushed and lowered her head to stare at the floor.

"I'm really sorry, I've been catching up to Yura-chan and then I got lost."

"You got lost?"

He asked her, tinge of annoyance evident in his vice as he rubbed his sore chin. She had been staying at the manor for nearly seven months, and she still got lost? She nodded, and looked up at him from under her lashes.

"Yes, I'm very sorry."

Ryuuji waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, and when he was about to continue his way towards the garden, he stopped. For a fleeting moment, he forgot the reason for heading towards the garden. Then he remembered Hidemoto, and his scowl came back. Kana noticed the scowl and spoke up.

"Is... Is something bothering you, Ryuuji-kun?"

Dark eyes turned to Kana, and he just stood there watching her without giving a reply. It took another few seconds when she spoke up again.

"Ryuuji-kun? Are you okay? You seem troubled."

If possible, Ryuuji's scowl worsened. "Hidemoto told me about Hagoromo Gitsune."

Understanding filled Kana's expression when she nodded gravely. "Oh, about her new attack on one of the Four Seals? I heard... that you had to fight a family member... Yura-chan told me he betrayed the Keikain clan."

White long hair and kind eyes clouded Ryuuji's vision for a while, and he was reminded about the one who betrayed them in favour of power. His scowl lessened. That guy had been such a good friend, even if Ryuuji had never admitted it.

"Yeah, I nearly killed 'em."

It was silent for a few seconds as Kana watched him staring off into the wilderness surrounding the Keikain manor before she spoke up again, her voice wary.

"What else did Hidemoto-sama tell you? Any new attacks?"

Ryuuji turned to her, and a smirk lifted the corners of his mouth. "A little stirrings in the west area of Tono, but nothin' too big to worry about. I just came back from there, an' that fox had just set up a little distraction. And..."

He turned to her for a heartbeat and averted his gaze as he mumbled out, "Hidemoto told me the guys were hittin' on ye... That true?"

Kana laughed softly, and used a sleeved hand to cover her mouth. "I think so."

Ryuuji scowled again. "Well, ye should take care of yerself, ya know. I'm not always there to kick their butts when ye happen to catch their attention or somethin'. Besides, ye have a lot of trainin' to do, and yet yer still foolin' aroun'..."

He stopped as he heard her gasp. When he turned to her, she was pouting and her cheeks were blushing. She frowned at him.

"Ryuuji-kun, how could you? I haven't been fooling around and you out of all people should know that. A-and... I've never had eyes for anyone..."

She averted her eyes to the side, and he waited for her to continue. Finally he spoke up.

"Fine, yer not slackin' off. So then, I'm goin-"

He turned around to go the other way but stopped when he felt her hands tucking on his sleeve.

"Um, Ryuuji-kun..."

He watched her with forced indifference as she looked up at him with big brown eyes. She smiled up at him shyly and the next thing he knew she was tiptoeing towards him.

When her lips gently brushed against his, time seemed to stop. The kiss lasted for a few seconds, and Kana immediately stepped back from him with a smile so beautiful and her cheeks reddening. Timidly, she giggled.

"And I have eyes only for you, Ryuuji-kun."

His head spun when she continued to smile up at him, and he swallowed the lump in his throat before he forced himself to speak up.

"Don't think that just because I like you too, I won't be hard on you when it comes to training, Kana."

She had laughed, gave him another peck to his lips before she skipped away happily.

He watched her disappear as she rounded a corner, and let the corners of his mouth to lift up.

* * *

><p><em>Subject: Ienaga Kana.<em>

_Sex: Female._

_Age: eighteen years and five months old._

_Occupation: Onmyouji Trainee.  
><em>

"Ryuuji-sama! We need reinforcements on the North Side of the gate! Hagoromo Gitsune has sent one third of the entire army!"

He had just finished sealing a one-eyed youkai near the Keikain vicinity when the messenger came to give him an update concerning the attack to the outskirts of Kyoto. Cursing, he called Garo back into the water canteen and hurried to the Keikain manor to give out order for reinforcements. He bumped into Yura in one of the hallways just as she was preparing for battle, Kana hot on her heels.

"Yura, take the men in The Third barracks and follow this messenger." He said to her as he motioned towards a lanky-built messenger waiting patiently behind him.

He waited for his sister to give an affirmative response when he realized Kana following Yura to the general direction of The Third barracks of the Keikain household. He grabbed her wrist, effectively stopping her. She turned around, facing him with a frown on her forehead.

"Ryuuji-kun?"

He waited for the entire corridor to be empty when he spoke up to her.

"You okay?"

He waited her to nod and continued, looking at a spot just past Kana's right shoulder to avoid looking her in the eyes.

"Ye stay here."

Kana shook her head. "I can't, I need to help Yura-chan!"

There was a small earthquake, a sign that the Keikain elders were still dealing with the broken seal of Hebidayu which was situated just outside the Keikain perimeter, and Ryuuji held her gaze.

"I don' want you hurt. Ye stay here an' help tend to the wounded men."

She stood her ground, and tried to pry her wrist from his firm yet gentle grasp.

"We have trained physicians for that, Ryuuji-kun. I just can't stand here and watch you two fight Hagoromo Gitsune and hurt yourselves!"

Cursing, Ryuuji held her face between his hands. "No. Don' go anywhere, damn it!"

Kana frowned. "But I'm capable enough to fight! I can summon shikigami already, Ryuuji-kun! I want to help!"

Ryuuji shook his head, his eyes unreadable. The ground shook again, and somewhere in one of the kitchen in the manor, an explosion burned a quarter part of the nearby barn. He pulled her along the corridor to a clearing where the injured were quarantined and given first aid. He said something to an elder maid, and turned to her.

"Kana, I know ye want to help, but right now isn't the time to be stubborn."

"But-"

"Shut up, woman. Listen, the Nura guys are busy eating an entire army sent by that fox in the south side of Kyoto and another army in Tokyo. The Keikains are fighting too, in the West and East side of Tono and here, in Kyoto. It's a big battle, and damn it, I don' want you involved. I can't bear to see you fighting."

Kana sported a gash on his left forearm, and her eyes teared up as she reached for it.

"B-But, Ryuuji-kun... You're injured enough..."

He sighed, and ignoring the stinging pain from his wound, he brought up a hand to wipe away the falling tears.

"Don' cry, Kana."

When she nodded, despite the tears continuously falling down her cheeks, Ryuuji cupped her face in his hands and lifted her face to kiss her gently on the lips. The kiss was sweet, and brief, but it meant so much to her, to them. He managed to give her one of his rare smiles –it had been more like a small smile- and spoke up.

"Ye remember that dagger I gave ye?"

She nodded, confusion evident on her face. Then he continued.

"I know it's too early, but it's a dowry from me to you."

He ignored her surprised gasp and rested his forehead against hers.

"Ya know, I'll definitely be back to see ye after this, so believe in me. I won' die, Kana."

She bit her bottom lip, and forced a wobbly smile onto her lips. "Okay."

A messenger was sent to call for Ryuuji, and after he sent a reply to the messenger, he turned back to her. He brought up a hand, and gently brushed her cheek with his knuckle.

"See ya." He said, before he turned around.

He was stopped when he felt her tugging on his sleeves, and he took a deep breath when she clutched the back of his kimono, and buried her face into his wide back.

"Be careful, Ryuuji-kun."

He smirked, and when he felt her stepping back, he lifted a hand to her. Without turning around, he left her there. 

* * *

><p><em>Subject: Ienaga Kana<em>

_Age: Twenty-three years and seven weeks old_

_Location: Nura Clan Manor  
><em>

She sat on her heels as she observed Kappa soaking himself in his favourite pond. Instinctively, she picked the scoop resting in an empty pail and used it to pour water on the youkai's head. A giggle escaped her as the water youkai sighed, relaxed.

"He likes you already, Kana-chan."

She turned around at the familiar voice, and met with Rikuo's grandfather who was holding his pipe. She tilted her head to the side, curiosity evident in her eyes.

"Good afternoon, Nurarihyon-sama."

The old youkai laughed and motioned for her to follow him. Wakana smiled at her as she set down a tray holding a small teapot and some tea cups. A plate of donuts sat next to it, and for a moment, Kana was reminded of Yura whom liked the woman's donuts. Nurarihyon sat next to the tray, and asked Kana to join him.

"I need a companion for tea. Rikuo's busy right now, and Wakana wants to go out shopping for groceries."

Smiling, Kana nodded her head. As she sat next to the old youkai, sipping her cup of tea, Nurarihyon decided to strike up a conversation.

"How are your wounds?"

"Fine, thank you."

He nodded, took another sip of his tea, and continued. "Wakana has repaired your onmyouji attire, but she said you have two back-up pairs don't you?"

Kana nodded, and nibbled on a donut. "That's right. Um, I hope Hotaru and Hiromi aren't troubling you. They can be quite... energetic at times. Especially Hotaru."

At this, Nurarihyon laughed. "Ah, yes. That little fox you brought in is an energetic one."

"Well, it's been a while since he had so many friends to play with."

It was silent for another few seconds when Kana continued nibbling on the donut, before Nurarihyon continued.

"You seem deep in thought when I saw you coming out of the bathroom after your morning shower... Thinking of the past?"

Smiling, Kana replied with a cheery, "Yes, pretty much."

"Care to tell this bored old man stories of you? If you don't mind, that is."

Her smile widened as she looked up at him, and excitedly she went into her room, and returned to his side with a custom-made dagger in her hands.

"This is my dagger, you see this? It's from the Keikain manor, the place where I learned how to be a onmyouji... there was this time when..."

As she began re-telling her story, omitting out the details pertaining her romance with Ryuuji, Natto Kozo came running towards her, and plopped on her lap to seek protection from her little fox companion.

Hiromi stayed on top of the roof above her bedroom, and stretched out his muscles before he went down to join tea. He noticed that Kana was re-telling her story towards Nurarihyon, and he opted to listen silently to the whole story. He knew her, more than anyone else, but he never knew how she lived before she met him. As he listened to her voice, he was reminded why he decided to answer to her prayers when she came to unseal him.

Although it had been painful, but she smiled up at them all and recited her story. And that; was a sign of strength. Hiromi hardly recognises onmyouji as a force to be reckoned with, all sorts of them, but Kana had been the one to change him. She believed in his powers to help the needy, and for that, he in turn believed in her to take care of him as a friend, and as a master.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: That. Was. Super. Long. Hope you like it. I had read up on different accent and slangs of the districts making up Japan, and since I noticed that Yura spoke with a Kansai accent, then probably all of the Keikain Onmyouji would be speaking in the same manner. I don't really know much about Ryuuji's character, but I do know that he's a conman and he acts brotherly sometimes. I just hope I didn't make him too OOC, and I apologize if I offended any of you if I made him a bit out of character. Sorry for the mis-spellings in the dialogues spoken by Yura and Ryuuji because, once again, they speak in Kansai dialect so I try to incorporate the slangs in English. So; 'What' becomes 'Wha'' and 'you' becomes 'ye' and 'your' becomes 'yer' and so on... hope it isn't too mind-boggling or too confusing.**

**Again, I apologize for any mistakes in this chapter and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I loved typing it. And remember that I'll never be on a long hiatus period unless I say so in my authorial notes, so don't fret too much. I'll try to be active.**

**Hugs and kisses!**


	6. Chapter 6

**KANA**

**A/N: WHY HELLOOO GUUUUYSSS! :3 I've gotten a lot of messages asking me if I'm still writing or not. Of course I'm still writing, it's just that a lot has been going on and I couldn't get myself to update. Ya know, working and studying at the same time is not as easy as the mangas make them to be. Alas, here I present to you the new chapter. :)**

**Ch6**

Rikuo was just finished with his morning patrol around the neighbourhood and on his way towards the Nura Manor when he smelled something burning. His brows drew together in a frown as the smell of smoke intensified the more he came near the large complex housing the hundreds of youkai –and one Onmyouji as well as his mother- under the Nura clan. He nearly fell off the cloud he was on when he spotted plumes of black smoke coming from the west side of the manor. Not waiting for the cloud to stop, he jumped off the transportation youkai and quickly made his way to the west wing of the building. A subordinate was running towards Rikuo, too occupied with the bucket of water he was trying to balance to notice Rikuo and accidentally bumped into his boss, sending the bucket of water he had been cradling flying off to land somewhere. The one-eyed youkai blanched as he noticed the white-haired clan leader.

"R-Rikuo-sama!"

Scowling, the red-eyed man walked past the lesser youkai to see what was causing the smoke and all the commotion at ten in the morning. The subordinate –bucket forgotten- followed his boss as he wrung his fingers together worriedly.

"Where."

His voice came out deceptively calm, but the subordinate had known Rikuo long enough to recognize the steely undertone at that simple command. Gulping, he bit his lip before stuttering out. "Th-The west foyer t-training dojo."

"Dammit. Let's go." Rikuo waited no longer than a heartbeat before he rushed to the scene.

Collective cries of "Rikuo-sama!" greeted him as he made –stomped- his way towards the west foyer, the sounds of shouts and a disturbing shriek getting louder by the second. He rounded a corner that lead to the west foyer and before he could as much as see, he _felt_ the heat radiating from the seven-foot wall of flame licking every corner of what was used to be one of the training dojos in the Nura Manor.

The smaller and children demons were cowering in a far corner, trembling in fear as the other older ones were busy throwing buckets of water and sand. Kappa was trying his best to put out the fire, being a water-dwelling yokai by nature. Despite him being relatively nonchalant most of the time, the fire actually gave Kappa quite a fight, judging by the slight discomfort on his otherwise deadpan face. Another loud shriek was heard, and Aotabo chose that time to appear next to Rikuo.

"Rikuo-sama."

"Explain this. And where's Kana."

Aotabo nearly sighed in resignation once he heard the woman's name, but decided against it given the chaotic situation.

"Them kids had been playing with that fox kiddo earlier this morning, when you were still on patrol. The kids kinda took it too far I guess, and they said that the kiddo suddenly cried out and then burst into flames. Like, poof and boom."

Karasu Tengu and his underlings were throwing buckets of water and sand from above the fire when a familiar –_very _familiar- voice cried out to the little fox, trying to coax the raging fox to calm down, standing very close to the raging wall of flames. Beads of sweat marred her forehead, and had soaked the back of her yukata. The edges of her sleeves were singed after her first few attempts at calming down the little fox from his rampage. Another shriek, louder than the previous ones, shook the whole perimeter; and the protective barrier the illusionist youkais had put around the Nura Base faltered at the high pitch sound. The raging fire nearly took out Karasu Tengu's children as it increased in size. Kana, the ever soft-hearted Kana –so _trusting_, so _protective_ of Hotaru- waved her arms around and asked the other youkais to stop aggravating the little fox by throwing in sand and water at the fire.

"Stop! Please stop! I'll try to calm him down, please!"

"Idiot." Rikuo gritted out angrily as he saw the Onmyouji trying to reach out towards the crying little fox.

Kurotabo immediately flanked the Sandaeme and adjusted his straw hat, suppressing a sigh. "Rikuo-sama, she's going to kill herself if she continues like that."

Rikuo kept silent for a while before he decided that he should stop Kana's nonsense.

"Stop that, woman."

Rolling the sleeves of her yukata, she stubbornly threw a glare at him before promptly ignoring him in favor to continue coaxing the small fox to calm down. Had he not been so pissed off at coming home to a fire –in his manor no less- then he would have thought that even her glare was irritatingly cute. Damn it.

"Hotaru-chan, calm down. It's okay, nobody's coming after you again. I'm here for you, remember?"

Her words seemed to have finally reached Hotaru, and for a few seconds the red flames decreased in size and turned a light yellow, the type of harmless flame she could walk through. Still a little warm, but bearable nonetheless. Kana sighed in relief, and started to walk towards the quivering fox, his nine tails shielding his small body, forming a big ball of white fur.

Seeing the rapidly decreasing flame, some subordinates used that chance to throw a bucketful of water towards the quivering fox in an effort to put out the remaining flames. Kana gasped when she noticed the familiar twitch of Hotaru's ears at the unexpected action, and in a split second the flames grew back in size. Rikuo's murderous eyes stopped the idiots from continuing, and they dropped the buckets immediately, faces guilty. He cursed as he noticed the absence of Tsurara and his grandfather.

From behind the woman, her trusted Tengu used his staff to ward off the fire attempting to lick at her skin. "Kana-sama! Be careful!"

He was too late, and Kana didn't move fast enough. She let out a loud cry of pain as her right arm got caught in the growing fire. She fell on her knees and bit her lower lip to avoid from screaming; an angry red blotch covering her forearm, extending down the outer side of her wrist and continuing to cover the back of her hand. Kubinashi and Kejoro hurried to her, trying to assist when she gritted her teeth and asked them to wait for a while.

"I-It's okay..."

Hiromi barely restrained himself from shaking his master, a frown on his face as he scolded Kana. "Kana-sama! You're hurt!"

Kana winced again, and she shook her head. "It's okay, look..."

She pointed towards the spot where a few seconds ago had been sporting a huge wall of fire, and all that was left was a wide-eyed little fox. The guilt-stricken face and trembling eyes prompted Kana to smile warmly at the creature, lips pale and strands of hair stuck to her temples and the back of her neck, as she walked towards the little bundle of white fur.

"_Kyuun_..." Hotaru whined guiltily as Kana scooped him into her waiting arms.

Big fat tears welled up as he stared at the burn mark on Kana's injured limb, and he looked up at her, asking for forgiveness. _'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... Kana-sama...' _

She smiled again, hiding the stinging pain as she assured the fox that she was okay. Knowing very well Hotaru's thoughts, she kissed him on his small snout and let him snuggle into her bosom, sounds of muffled sobs tickling her ears. A hand was brought up to gently stroke the little fox over his head.

Collective sighs of relief washed over the whole area as she smiled apologetically at the mass of yokai surrounding the burnt dojo. She winced again, and suddenly she found herself being lifted off the ground by a pair of strong arms.

"Ri-Rikuo-kun!"

Hiromi appeared next to the Nura Sandaeme, frowning. "Leave her to me, Nura Rikuo."

Rikuo ignored Hiromi's pair of jet-black eyes as he swept his own ruby reds over the charge in his arms. The elegant slashes of dark brows drew together into a slight frown as she started at him in an unapproving manner at being treated like a damsel in distress –he couldn't care less, really- , a few smudges of black marred her pale face, beads of sweat accumulated on the plane of her smooth forehead, her temples, her chin, and the bow of her upper lip. His eyes stopped a little longer at her lips and he was reminded yet again why this woman stirred feelings in him.

Such strength. Such bravery. Such tenderness.

Such... beauty.

Even if she happened to sport a first degree burn on her right arm, and happened to be covered in soot from head to toe.

Gods, this woman was going to be the death of him.

"You need treatment." He told her as he started towards the medical chambers, where he had Wakana and Kejoro waiting.

Hiromi followed him, intent on not letting Rikuo off his sight with Kana in his arms. Hotaru stirred a bit, before he transformed into a pair of white-hilted chokutos.

Now Rikuo understood why she named the fox Hotaru. Though the fox turned out to be more than just a firefly.

* * *

><p><em>Location: Kyoto<em>

_Subject: Ienaga Kana, Hiromi _

_Sex: Female, male, respectively_

_Age: 19 years and 11 months old, 712 years old, respectively_

* * *

><p>She never thought she would end up here again, but here she was.<p>

In Kyoto.

It had been only been less than a year since the Hebidayu incident, but the spot where the almighty Keikain Manor used to be was already unrecognizable. What used to be the main hall was reduced to rubble, the timber that had made up the walls, pillars and sturdy beams supporting the complex structures of what used to be a majestic building were burnt to coal, providing nutrition to the soil which gave way for various plants to thrive. A long stretch of wild berry shrubs covered most of the grounds of what used to be the third wing of the complex, and young cherry blossoms sprouted from one part of the manor that had housed the trainee chambers during its glory days. Her room had been one of them.

From beside her, Hiromi yawned.

"Yo, Kana-sama. Where are we? I thought we were supposed to go to Yasaka Jinja."

Kana smiled at him, and walked towards a dilapidated structure of whatever remained of a cluster of wells. A shudder ran down her spine when she looked into one of the wells and sensed a youkai dwelling in the dark shadows. It was harmless though, so she let it be.

"This used to be where I live."

Hiromi gave a once over at the remains of the east foyer. "Hm... But well, it's burnt down. I don't know what your purpose in coming here, but this place is crawling with ayakashi."

His master gave a soft laugh, and he raised a brow.

"Arara... Relax, Hiromi-kun. As you can very well feel and see, they're harmless. I just came here because I wanted to visit my family." At this, she pointed towards a clearing very near to the cluster of wells.

There was no distinct signage or a proper establishment, but there were makeshift pillars connecting a stretch of rope enclosing a large part of the clearing. He noticed the name planks and several tombstones as well as a small shrine built in the middle of the clearing that looked relatively new.

"Ah, a cemetery."

Watching Kana fishing out a dagger from her sleeves, he followed after her as she walked towards the cemetery and stopped to lower herself on her haunches in front of two distinct name planks.

Keikain Yura. Keikain Ryuuji.

"The Keikain had a branch family in Gion that managed the accounts, and a few days after the wreckage I was brought there to recuperate before coming to Tono to train with the monks and Onmyouji there. That was when I managed to harness enough strength to summon Rokuson and Tanro."

Her soft hand reached out to caress the names of those Hiromi remembered to be her lover and her best friend, and a small smile graced her lips.

"They promised to build a memorial shrine in the next year, so I've been keeping in touch with them. This cemetery here is a makeshift one we made to remember those who died protecting Kyoto. Sometimes I wish... I wish I had done more. I... I just-"

Her voice faltered and her shoulders trembled, a sign that she was trying hard not to break down. Hiromi knelt next to her and gently squeezed her shoulder. She turned to him, and the sight of the tears trickling down her cheeks made him swear to himself never to let her make that face again.

"I'm sorry..."

Brown eyes blinked, and after a few seconds of staring, Kana finally broke out into a gentle trembling giggle. She used the sleeves of her miko attire to wipe the tears and gave him a wobbly smile.

"Thank you, Hiromi-kun. For being here, with me."

He replied with a small smile and a shrug. He opened his mouth to chastise her when she made a move to wipe her snot using her sleeves –he lost count on how many times had he told her _not _to do that-, when a sound of something scurrying beneath the dilapidated hallways caught their attention.

Almost immediately, Hiromi whipped out his staff and went into a defensive stance. "Who's there."

There was a sound of something whining when Kana stretched out a hand in front of her bodyguard to stop him from blasting off his weapon. "Wait, it's harmless."

She warily made her way to a secluded part of the building, following her senses. She could feel that the youkai sneakily observing them a few moments ago had some semblance of power, but the feel was all wrong and all over the place. It was as if the youkai was confused and scared at being discovered, and wanted nothing more than to escape.

There was another whine, and she knew she was near.

"Be careful Kana-sama."

She gave the Tengu a nod and a smile before she knelt in front of a corner, two fallen beams preventing her from venturing further towards the pair of glinting red eyes staring back at her from underneath a pile of burnt wood.

"_Kyuun..._"

Kyun?

Her brow rose at the peculiar whine, and a smile broke out as she realized the familiar presence. It was a little fox cub, and the overbearing presence of a strong youkai like Hiromi who stood vigilantly behind her scared the fox out of its wits. Reaching out a hand towards the trembling eyes, she managed a warm smile.

"Hey there, little one... It's okay, he's with me. He's a friend."

The creature seemed to take interest for a split second, before the red eyes turned wary again. "_Kyuun..._"

She tried again, this time pulling out a blanket from her travelling bag and laid it out in her lap. She reached out a hand just like her first attempt, and her smile grew wider when the youkai reared its snout to take a whiff of her scent.

"Are you hurt? I can help you."

"_Kyuun..._"

The youkai seemed to consider before he decided to show himself. Clumsily, he warily took small steps towards her lap, large red eyes shining with frightened tears. His nine tails were dragged through the dirt, soot and caked soil covering what once used to be fluffy white appendages. His face and body were marred with bite marks, a few cuts and smudges of black from the burnt wood.

Despite the dirty fur and dried scabs, Kana found herself swooning over the cute little fox. She tightened her fist and turned shining eyes towards Hiromi, giving him the most gut-wrenching, knee-buckling puppy eyes of the century. He could feel cold sweat gathering on the base of his neck as he weighed the repercussions of bringing another travelling mate. He sighed, defeated by her inquiring looks yet again.

"Can we keep 'em?" The accent she learned during her stay with the Keikains came out, in an effort to be cute.

Shrugging resignedly, he put away his staff and shoved his hands into the pockets of his black pants. "Fine. You're the master."

Kana patted the space on her lap. "Come 'ere little one. I'll take care of you, okay?"

The little fox blinked, and then he gave the pair of the most heart-melting puppy eyes as he climbed on Kana's lap. He was wrapped with the soft blanket, and slowly his eyes began to close as sleep came over. The fox had forgotten how it felt like to be in the arms of a loved one, he had been abandoned since he was just a mere cub. Yawning, he snuggled deeper into the soft confines of the blanket as Kana hurried towards the Yasaka Jinja, Hiromi following closely behind.

'_Thank you, Miko-sama...'_

Kana stopped in her tracks and looked down into the sleeping figure of the new youkai she had picked up. She turned a confused face towards Hiromi. "I... I think he just thanked me... I could hear him."

She stayed rooted on her spot for a few seconds, before she smiled warmly at the fox.

"You're welcome, little one."

Hiromi materialized his black wings and motioned for Kana to hop on. "Come on, it's faster this way."

In the years to come, Hiromi would thank Kana for taking in the little fox youkai while he sipped green tea, said fox sleeping soundly in her lap as she replied him with a smile so warm and so bright.

* * *

><p><em>Subject: Ienaga Kana<em>

_Age: Twenty-three years and eleven weeks old_

_Location: Nura Clan Manor_

* * *

><p>Rikuo waited outside her room as she cleaned up, and sat on the porch facing the yard. Hiromi stood next to him, observing his every move.<p>

"Hey, you… Hiromi right?"

Said name raised a brow, slightly surprised that Rikuo started first. He was contemplating whether he should explain Hotaru's rampage or not when the younger yokai spoke up first. "Yes, what is it?"

Sitting cross-legged, Rikuo studied the dagger Kana had dropped during the heat of the moment earlier that day. The carvings and the name on the scabbard provided him enough knowledge that it was a special dagger. One that most probably symbolized an important event, a memento of sorts.

"Why does she have this dagger?"

Hiromi smirked, and if it wasn't because he wanted to know more about the woman who piqued his interest, Rikuo would have knocked that condescending smirk off the Tengu's face. He watched warily as Hiromi relaxed his posture and proceeded to sit next to him, keeping a respectful distance between them.

"That dagger was supposed to be a dowry. In place of a promise ring. Keikain Ruuji had that custom-made for Kana-sama."

White eyebrows shot up. Dowry? Promise ring? Keikain Ryuuji? The bane of his existence all those years ago and the one who somehow became his ally during the Hagoromo Gitsune invasion?

"I see. Hm."

It was not as if he was jealous. He was not, really.

No, really.

"He was a good man. Weird and sadistic. But a good man nonetheless."

The Tengu next to him nodded. Something in him itched to see the Nura Rikuo squirm. He may be a little bit on the heartless side, but he could still see the attraction the younger man had towards his master. Besides, he was bored, being cooped up in the large manor. And a bored Hiromi means a very cheeky Hiromi. He may be more than seven hundred years old, but he still had some playfulness in him. Travelling with Kana had done a few numbers on him, actually.

"From her stories, he had been a wonderful lover. I can't agree more, since he had planned to wed my master. If it wasn't for the war, she would have been a Keikain by now."

That seemed to wrench a response from Rikuo, judging by the ominous aura the younger man was emitting like waves.

"Hm. That guy isn't here anymore. Why hold onto something that belonged to a person who's no longer here."

Hiromi shrugged. "Well, he was special to her. To her, Keikain Ryuuji was her everything, he helped her find new love, new hope. Since her first love had not been fruitful."

It was true, there had been those times when she would talk about how she used to be an average girl, who had fallen hard for a boy her age, but never had the courage to confess. And then she would tell him about Ryuuji, a man she had loved and whom loved her back just as much. There were those times when her eyes would shine, and her lips would smile warmly at the memories as she held onto the treasured dagger. That warm smile was what kept Hiromi by her side, a smile wherein strength lies.

"The man is no more, but he lives in her memories of him. You should have seen her face when she talked about that man. Kind of makes me think that those dark years I spent being sealed off had been no more than a speck of nightmare, if it meant being loved like how she loved the man."

Red ruby eyes turned to him, as a hand returned the dagger. "You seem very fond of Kana."

A smile so small lifted the corners of the Tengu's mouth. "Well yes, she has that effect on people you know. The urge to protect that forgiving nature and innocence. She's a reminder to me, that there had been a time when I had been a human too."

Rikuo chuckled. Well, the older youkai was right about that.

The door slid open at that moment to reveal Kana in a clean change of her miko attire, sporting a bandage covering her right forearm and further covering her hand. She thanked Kejoro and Wakana, the latter still fussing over the injured onmyouji as she was pulled away by Kejoro to someplace else. Hiromi nodded to her, and he stood up to take her hand in his, inspecting the bandages. Noting nothing amiss, he sighed and smiled up at his master.

"Be careful next time. It's been a while since Hotaru acted up, so I suggest you renew that seal on his belly."

Kana smiled up at him, and a traitorous blush colored her cheeks as the Tengu lifted her hand to his lips and planted a kiss. Immediately, her hand felt a little better. Rikuo, having witnessed the exchange from the sidelines took his cue to stand up as well, a scowl on his face.

"Oh, Rikuo-kun!"

Said name crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to quell the sudden urge to run his hand over her wound and heal them.

"Apparently the small yokais had been playing with the kiddo and ended up tugging his tail a little bit too hard. Though I know they were to blame for playing around aggressively, but still you could have informed us of the tendency of that kiddo to erupt in flames beforehand."

Kana frowned. "Well, I'm sorry for that. I didn't think that Hotaru would break through his seal."

Rikuo sighed and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "Glad you understand."

Hiromi turned towards his master as he felt her hand gently squeezing his forearm. She gave him a small smile. "Hiromi-kun, can you check up on Hotaru? He should be resting with Tsurara-san at the onsen."

The bodyguard nodded, and walked in the direction of the backyard in which the onsen was built.

Sensing that no one else was nearby, Kana dropped her smile. Rikuo noticed the worried frown she had as she bit her lower lip, her eyes shifting everywhere but him. She swallowed, and finally turned her brown eyes to him.

"Can... Can we talk inside?"

With a nod from the youkai, they went into her room. Closing the sliding door, Kana sighed as she turned around to face Rikuo.

"I'm... I'm really sorry. Please, _please_ don't kick us out of this manor."

Red eyes blinked as he watched Kana made a bow. She fisted her hands, and her body trembled as she held in oncoming tears. When she straightened her back, her cheeks were colored pink from the embarrassment of having to appear weak in front of Nura Rikuo. She couldn't help it, she was worried of telling the others that Hotaru had a tendency to go up in flames if he felt threatened since the little fox still had a phobia of being kicked and tortured. She didn't want them to think of the worst things that could happen and coerce Nurarihyon and Rikuo to kick them out because of Hotaru's condition; she just couldn't afford it. Hotaru had needed proper shelter then because they had been travelling for so long that the fox was becoming weaker, since he couldn't properly fend for himself, being a very young yokai that he was.

She was still hurt, thinking of what Rikuo did to her those years ago when she lost her parents. But she could only feel so much hurt and anger, and the thought of losing Hotaru due to her own carelessness had made her push aside the hurt she had. She couldn't afford to continue being stubborn and contemptuous towards Rikuo when Hotaru needed the necessary care to grow properly by staying within the Nura environment.

"I-I didn't realize the seal had weakened significantly after that fight with Hebidayu. It's not Hotaru's fault, he was just scared at being picked on by the smaller yokais. It's my fault really. So please don't kick us out. I beg of you"

"Stop that."

He had already advanced towards her, and her brown eyes widened as she felt him brush away at her tears using his knuckles. His eyes looked pained and troubled, a far cry from the ones he showed a few minutes ago when Hiromi had been with them.

And just like that, all the anger and confusion and hurt vanished from her.

"Don't blame yourself over every little thing. I would never, _never _throw you guys out. I won't abandon you anymore. I promise."

Rikuo didn't know from where he had the courage to promise her that, but he realized he didn't care anymore. Not when he saw the turmoil she was in. He leaned his forehead against hers, and closed his eyes.

"Nothing is your fault, you did nothing wrong. The loss of your parents, our friends... it had been our fault. Everything that happened after that, you going to Kyoto to train... _My _fault."

He could feel Kana's long lashes brush against his eyelids as she closed her eyes, taking a deep shuddering breath.

"No, don't blame yourself for what I've become, Rikuo-kun. I'm sorry... I'm so sorry for putting the blame on you."

He chuckled, a painful and hollow sound that reverberated through his chest, and used his right hand to cup her cheek.

"I should have protected you, I should have been there for you when that happened... Look at you know, a Miko with a scary-as-hell Tengu as her bodyguard. You won't be able to live normally after this, you wouldn't have gotten that burn if you hadn't been an Onmyouji. I could have prevented this."

Kana opened her eyes as she felt his other hand cup her other cheek, his thumbs brushing slightly over the blush staining her cheekbones. She bit her lip as she felt her heart beating in anticipation, and wondered if he could hear the erratic heartbeats. Why was it that she could still feel her heart reacting towards the yokai who had once broken her heart. Why was it that she could never deny that she still loved him, after all those years.

Bringing up her bandaged hand, she gently caressed his face, and pulled back a little so that she could look up at him.

"Open your eyes, Rikuo-kun. Look at me."

Red rubies stared back at her, and she couldn't help the butterflies in her belly from fluttering when she realized that, yes, she still loved him after all. She smiled as she ran her fingers over his cheekbones and chin.

"I trained because I wanted to be strong. It was all me, so please, don't blame yourself for something I wanted to do..."

_I love you._

It was on the tip of his tongue, but he could never bring himself to say that to her. He didn't know what held him back, as he swept his eyes over her face. The frown on her forehead was gone, the tears were gone too. Subtle tear tracks ran down her cheeks, and her cheeks had a pink tint to them. Kana was not one of those pretty criers, that he knew. But at that moment he had never seen someone so beautiful that it tugged his heart strings and just warmed him up inside out.

Ah, he was such a sucker.

He crushed the urge to pull her to him in an embrace –because he didn't want to burden her with thoughts of him when she was still healing from the pain of losing Ryuuji- and instead let out a year's worth of sigh. Taking her bandaged hand in his, he was very careful not hurt her unnecessarily as he swept his gaze over her arm. His hand hovered over the back of her hand, and slowly he swept his hand along the length of her forearm.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack, woman."

Kana blinked in awe as she felt her arm healing at a faster rate, and the raw pain disappeared almost instantly.

"Th-Thank you."

She looked up from her healing arm and the fading blush on her cheeks returned again as she was met with his smile. It was just the small lifts of the corners of his mouth, but the look in his eyes was what made her blush deeper. He looked as if he wanted to kiss her.

And he would have, he would and _could_ have abandoned that small voice in his head that told him not to toy with a brokenhearted woman, to let her completely be rid of thoughts of Ryuuji and _then _take her, to just go with it and kiss her silly, if it wasn't for the ungodly bellow Ryota-neko made when he slammed the doors open, a worried expression on his face.

"Kana-chan! Are you-"

The worried face was immediately replaced by flaming red cheeks as soon as he assessed the situation the Onmyouji and his boss was in. He covered his face, and turned his back to the pair, sputtering like a prepubescent schoolgirl, not even realizing that Rikuo had let go of Kana and was watching the smaller youkai with a deadpan face.

"S-Sorry!"

Kana was about to call out to Ryota-neko when Nurarihyon appeared before them, Nenekirimaru in hand and a knowing smirk on his face.

"Oya, I came by to check on my favourite Onmyouji and looks like she's fine."

Kana bowed hurriedly. "W-Welcome back Nurarihyon-sama!"

The elder youkai laughed as he noticed the annoyed scowl Rikuo was putting on. "I told you to call me Ojii-chan didn't I. Anyways,"

Nurarihyon motioned for both of them to follow him. "Let's go and see what we can do about the burnt dojo."

Kana nodded, and hurriedly left the room. Ryota-neko followed her, leaving Rikuo to scowl at his grandfather.

"What is it, Jiji."

The all-knowing grandfather smirked teasingly before he shrugged. "Now's a good time as any to woo her, Rikuo-_kun_."

And with that, the elder youkai vanished.

He waited a few seconds, and as he was sure not a soul was there, he angrily used both hands to ruffle the mop of unruly silver hair, the black highlights sticking out in odd angles.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I actually wanted to continue this chapter, but thought that it's better to end this one as it is. Anyway, I took a peek at the last time I updated anything, and was surprised to see that I haven't updated in quite a while. I'm so sorry. Well, I'm here now aren't I? I'd like to thank your support and review from the bottom of my heart m(_)m**

**Your reviews and support are what makes everything worthwhile. ^^**


	7. Chapter 7

**KANA**

**A/N: ya don't think I'd stop at one chapter update now, do you?**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Ch7<strong>

"Um… Rikuo-kun."

"Hm?"

"Um… Y-you can let me go now."

She felt his sigh caress the top of her head and his left arm tightening around her. When she wiggled a bit to put some distance between her back and his chest, he used his other arm to keep her body flush against him, causing her cheeks to take on a pink hue. She shivered when he lowered his mouth to her ear and spoke up, the tenor of his voice vibrating her eardrums and made her bite her lower lip to prevent herself from swooning over the narcissistic ayakashi.

"No way. _You _were the one who wanted this didn't you?"

"B-But… I didn't _ask _for you to… to… do… to do _this_!"

She could feel his smirk against her earlobe. "Do what?"

The light pink on her pale cheeks turned a bright scarlet as she felt him rest his forehead against the spot where her shoulder joined her neck. When she was too busy being conscious of how warm and so close –too close- his body was instead of answering him, he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Why are you so embarrassed anyway? I thought we've already established that being this close shouldn't be a problem to both of us. You didn't seem to mind that time when we were in your room."

Instantly, the events of the past week when Hotaru had burnt down a dojo resurfaced. She frowned as she tried to pry his hands off her.

"What does that have to-"

Then she realized what he meant, when the recollection of how his hands had felt as he cupped her face and how close they were that time decided to butt in. Her fading blush returned full force as she remembered how they were so close to… do… something… before Ryota-neko barged in on them. Rikuo even seemed to notice that she finally realized what he meant, and his smirk grew wider. A few seconds later Kana swallowed, and her hands tried to pull his hands away half-heartedly.

"Rikuo-kun… you pervert."

He let out that low chuckle of his, and Kana cursed herself for letting her body _tremble _at that oddly relaxing sound. "Am I now?"

Her hands finally stopped moving. She looked down at both of his hands that were resting snuggly against her flat stomach, his fingers lacing together to make a point that he was not going to relinquish his hold on her unless she stayed still. Tilting her head to the side, she gently traced all five of his long fingers with her own, the soft pads of her fingers ghosting over his pale skin. He peered down as he rested his chin on her shoulder, watching silently as her fingers ghosted over his knuckles and continued to trace a visible vein on the back of his hand. She stopped at the back of his wrist for a heartbeat where the ends of his Yakuza tattoo was visible and continued the exploration of what seemed to be the tail of a Nue tattooed along his forearm. She stopped as she reached the edge of the sleeve his white yukata.

Kana turned her head enough to feel her temple touching his chin and frowned as she glanced at the way his lips were set in a straight line. It was already past bedtime, and all the residents were asleep. Hiromi had followed Kubinashi, Kejoro and Aotabo on a night patrol and wouldn't be home until the break of dawn. She should be sleeping, with Hotaru curled up by her side, not sitting up in a Sakura tree that was blossoming magnificently despite it being close to winter.

She supposed it was partly her fault that Nura Rikuo had thought that sitting on his favorite spot with her nestling cozily in between his legs was a good idea. She had only voiced out that it must be nice to sit in a branch and watch the fluttering lights of the hitodama floating around the cemetery on the hills. When he saw her excited face as she wondered how pretty the sight would be, he took it upon herself to grab her and settle down on his favorite branch, Kana being his unsuspecting company.

She suddenly remembered she was supposed to be mad at him, and that she had forgotten his earlier question.

"_Am I now?" _

She squelched the urge to snap her head backwards just so that she could have the satisfaction of bruising his chin for being a pervert. Geez, she couldn't comprehend him at all. He was dangerously handsome and attractive, and he knew that as well and was not shy in using that against her. He knew that he could affect her, because his lips turned up into a smirk when he realized she was staring at his mouth.

She didn't bother answering him, and finally relented. Rikuo, realizing this, finally loosened his hold on her and brought up his right knee so he could rest a hand on it.

Rikuo, noticing that she had been staring at his mouth, spoke up again. "What are you looking at?"

Her frown was gone as she looked up at him. Rikuo tilted his head to the side, as she suddenly hummed in contemplation.

"Rikuo-kun…"

The smirk he had on disappeared as he watched her. "What?"

Her brown eyes shifted to the side as she thought of something, and they turned back to look at him squarely in the eyes.

"Tsurara-san… who is she to you?"

For a second, he blinked as he digested her question. He raised a brow after a while as her cheeks suddenly colored a faint pink when she turned her face away from him in favor of his right hand dangling from his knee.

"I-I mean… well… she seems to… you know… she seems to have a crush on you."

He couldn't relate how Tsurara's crush on him had anything to do with Kana. He decided to ignore that question, just to spite the woman he was cradling between his long legs, but decided against it.

"She's a subordinate. And I am aware of that."

Kana swallowed as her hands begin to twist together. She didn't know why, but lately she felt bad for the Yuki-Onna. There had been more than one occasion when she would notice how Tsurara would hold back on showing her affection towards her master, and she couldn't help but notice the youkai's crestfallen face at being treated as one of the guys and nothing more. The Onmyouji knew Rikuo was aware of the snow youkai's affections, but he didn't seem to notice the hurt in Tsurara's eyes when the powerful ayakashi would sometimes call out to Kana.

She sighed as she turned towards a stray leaf that had flown over their heads. "It would definitely hurt her if she were to see us huddled up like this. I knew _I _would feel jealous."

The red eyed youkai stayed silent for a while, before he took her hand in his, testing the feel of her small one in his cool, long fingers.

"She should know better. We were actually engaged, and she was the one who broke it up."

At that, Kana nearly fell off from her spot as she turned around to stare at him wide-eyed. He tightened his left arm around her to stop her from falling off the high branch. "You were _engaged_?"

He ignored her question and shrugged nonchalantly as he avoided her bright eyes to look at the moon before he continued.

"If anything, I'm the one who's supposed to feel hurt. I don't see why she would still feel hurt after pulling a stunt like that a few years ago."

The woman in his arm stared at him, her eyes flashing a barrage of emotions one after another.

Surprise, anger, relief, confusion… and pity.

He closed his eyes as he rested his forehead onto hers, just like how he did a week ago.

"What now?"

She was silent as she contemplated her response. She could ask him what happened, but she shouldn't pry into those kinds of matters. Besides, it wasn't as if they were in an actual relationship. Sure, she knew there was something between them, but she couldn't risk stepping into a relationship just yet, because she still had a part in her that wouldn't let her fully accept the long-lost feelings she once had for Rikuo. And part of her was afraid to love again after losing Ryuuji.

So she settled for something else.

"I'm… sorry…"

The pity in her voice amused him, and he chuckled. She bristled at his sudden reaction. What was it that he found so amusing?

"Hey, what's so funny? I'm being overly considerate of your feelings here, you know?"

He lifted his face as he put some distance between them and shook his head, his chuckles trailing off. When he opened his eyes, the red rubies were so clear and something akin to endearment flashed in his eyes.

"Kana, you don't have to feel sorry for me. The engagement had been one of convenience, since we were on the verge of extinction since a lot of female youkai had married off to other clans. Though at one time I did have some sort of attraction to her… but yeah… she thought I wanted her as my wife because she was convenient…"

She frowned again as he brushed his thumb over her pink cheek. "Oh… so… you used to like her…"

He smirked again. "Are you jealous?"

Kana rapidly blinked her eyes, sputtering incoherent curses in her peculiar Kansai dialect. "'m not! Wha's wrong with ya, shootin' yer mouth off like tha'."

His smirk widened at her reaction, and he fought the urge to stop her lips with his own. He couldn't help it, she was just adorable. Gently, he placed his thumb over her bottom lip, and she immediately stopped.

"There had been a time when I felt something for her, to be honest. She was a comfort to be with when I couldn't tell my friends who I really was, and she was special to me, in a way... but I also felt something for you, even before you left for Kyoto during high school."

He watched as she set her mouth in a straight line, her brown eyes looking at a spot behind his shoulder in an attempt to look away. He cleared his throat.

"Kana, you're important to me."

The fading blush came back, slowly coloring her cheeks a darker shade of pink. She bit her lips, contemplating his words over and over in her head, and finally opened her mouth

"I… I was in love with you, Rikuo-kun. All those years I was in love with you and I couldn't have loved anyone else but you. But then I met Yura-chan and Ryuuji-kun and Hidemoto-sama… I found someone else to love."

She felt him withdraw his hand from her face as he let it hang from his upturned knee, and hesitantly, she dragged her eyes to face his red ones. He saw the hurt and confusion clouding her big brown eyes, and he felt like taking all of it away and locking it somewhere thirty feet under his manor. Her eyes flickered towards his Adam's apple as he swallowed, and a pained smile stretched her lips.

"I had loved Ryuuji-kun so much, and then to suddenly lose him… I… I don't think I can… I don't know what I should do right now."

He felt sick, sick at having to hear her voice out her love for a man he had fought against, sick that he had to be the one listening to her declaration of love for a man who was not him, and sick at having her think that she does not deserve and could not accept his affections. She wasn't ready yet, he knew. And that was what gave him hope, even if it was little.

"Then I'll wait. Like how you waited for me, Kana."

Kana raised her brows as she heard him sigh resignedly. He brought up a hand to ruffle her mop of brown hair, eliciting a surprised yelp from her mouth.

"Wh-what? What?"

Rikuo used that same hand to pull at her cheek, and gave a small smile.

"Nothing, I just felt like teasing you a bit."

At this, Kana huffed. "Is it okay if you return me to my room now? I'm kind of sleepy."

Rikuo shook his head, and used both arms to pull her flush against him once again. "I don't want to."

He let her mumble incoherent words, and could feel his lips tugging up into a small smile as he felt her sigh and relaxed her body. She immediately fell silent, and he chuckled softly as he realized she was fast asleep, her small hands covering his interlaced ones on top of her stomach. He swept his gaze over the fluttering lights of the hitodama fireballs dancing in the distance and let his mind wander off for a while, before he finally decided to carry the Onmyouji to her room and settle her into her futon. Hotaru had been sleeping next to the pillow when Rikuo laid Kana onto the futon. As if on reflex, the little fox blearily opened his eyes, and took a few steps to curl into a ball next to his sleeping master.

He slid the doors shut, and spent a few minutes as he leaned against the shoji doors, staring into nothing. He saw a sleepy-eyed Tsurara coming from around a corner heading towards the washrooms, and she stopped in her tracks to acknowledge him. Her eyes turned towards the closed doors of Kana's room to her master, and hesitantly greeted him.

"Rikuo-sama."

Said name brought up a hand to massage the kink on the back of his neck, pushing himself off the doors to look at his subordinate.

"Tsurara."

When she stood there, contemplating what to do, he spoke up first.

"There had been a time when I had affections for you, Tsurara."

The snow youkai sported a blush on her cheeks ad she looked up at him, eyes wide. He let his hand drop on his side as he continued. "I used to think that you were the most important person in my life, but then I met Kana and Kiyo and Shiima…"

Tsurara tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she listened to her master. He continued as he let out a chuckle.

"I never thought that I would feel the same towards Kana. When she left for Kyoto, I think that was when I realized that the feelings I had for you were no more there."

At this, the Yuki-Onna smiled resignedly. "Thank you, Rikuo-sama."

Rikuo nodded, and turned around so his back was facing her. "I owe you an apology, Tsurara."

She let out a gentle laugh. "It seems that I've already lost to Ienaga-san, not that I mind, really. She's a very…"

Tsurara stopped a while to think about Kana, and when she saw Rikuo turn around to look at her over his shoulder, she smiled.

"She's a very nice and interesting person. Kind to a fault, and silly sometimes. But she is special to you, that much I know."

He nodded, and then he left her, a smile ghosting his lips as he made for his quarters.

As corny as it sounded, and he was anything but that (Nurarihyon was, unfortunately, very cheesy in his opinion. Because seriously, who would declare his undying love to a woman on a roof while a crazy demon was trying to rip his heart out. Obviously, his Jiji would) but he knew that he would wait for her.

He didn't know for how long, but he was sure as hell going to wait for her.

The clan elders be damned.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I know, it's short. But the next ones are going to be longer, I promise. Please review and tell me if it's a bit rushed. I'd really appreciate that. ^^**

**Hugs and kisses.**


	8. Chapter 8

**KANA**

**WARNING! : There will be content bordering mature themes, so little kiddos below 18 and those who are not perverts should not read this.**

**Cheers!**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Ch8<strong>

_She heaved a big sigh, and brought up a hand to wipe the perspiration beading on her forehead. Through the thick fog blanketing the mountain, she knelt onto the ground and dug through her trusty bag pack for a box of matchsticks and a summoning scroll where she used to store her bulkier items. She had traded a pair of hiking boots for the invaluable scroll, and had to admit it had been a very good bargain. After a few incantations, there was a small puff of smoke that came out from the surface of the scroll and a lantern popped out. The small lantern youkai residing in it smiled shyly at her, and began lighting up brightly as she lit it up with a matchstick. Her watch suddenly beeped, and she flinched at the sudden sound. _

"_Oops." She turned the alarm off, and raised her brows as she glanced at the time. "It's only 5 but it's so dark here."_

_She held the lantern up and sniffed around the fog. "Must be the miasma then…" When she felt goose bumps down her spine, she shivered and rubbed the back of her neck. "Creepy."_

_Muttering some light incantations under her breath, she started to walk through the fog until she found a flight of stairs, leading up the mountain. She looked up the flight of stairs only to find the upper half disappearing into the thickening fog. _

"_Up there is where Tengu-san is."_

_She took a few steps, and stopped as she felt another chill run down her back. Taking another calming breath, she reminded herself why she was up in the mountains looking for the sealed demon-eating Tengu in the first place. It was because the villagers were in danger. Children were being kidnapped and young mothers were hunted for their livers. She had tried purification ceremonies, and even used her two Shikigami to fight the blood-starved ayakashi. But she had been running low on energy since she didn't eat, sleep and rest properly ever since she came to the village upon a request from the head villager. She had done a rookie mistake, and that was to underestimate the strength of the ayakashi, and the numbers._

_Oh, she couldn't forget the numbers. As improved as she might be, Kana was still a newbie in exorcism, there was no way she could have defeated three hungry monsters at the same time._

_Then the village council had suggested she look for a partner, a strong one. The night before she had hiked up Mount Yoichi, an elderly woman had come and visited her, and gave a sacred scroll._

'_Use this, Kana-chan. The demon-eating Tengu is of great power to have, but no one had managed to unseal him.'_

_She had been speechless, and had stared at the scroll bearing ancient scriptures. 'But… I can't possibly… I mean, I don't have any right to. This is a family heirloom, is it not?'_

_The old woman had smiled then, a very wistful smile, one Kana hadn't seen in such a long time. She took Kana's hands in hers, and closed the younger woman's fingers over the ancient scroll._

'_Let's just say… I'm doing this for the sake of my village. This village here… it's my life. I would do anything to protect it, and the families living here. Surely you can understand why I'm doing this, right?'_

_Kana nodded, and the elder covered the Onmyouji's hand with her own wrinkled one. 'I trust you to use this power wisely, if you manage to call upon the Tengu.'_

_She stopped her hike up the stairs to catch her breath. "If I manage to unseal him huh…"_

_The fog had thinned, she noted. After she rolled her shoulders, she punched the air with a tightly clenched fist. _

"_Yosh! Tengu-san, here I come!"_

_It took her another ten minutes of climbing up the insanely long stairs, but she finally managed to reach a clearing. Immediately, her fading vigor renewed as soon as she caught sight of a large rock in the middle of a circle made out of rope and a chain of sealing paper tags plastered the circumference of the big rock. Four knee-high pillars embedded at four corners connected a length of rope, forming a square around the rock._

_The sight of the big rock had caught her speechless for a few seconds. She had imagined it to be enclosed in a shrine or something, but then, the sealed creature was a demon after all. Not a deity._

_There was another smaller rock a few feet away from the encircled one, and she immediately put her lantern on it before she used the sleeves of her kimono to wipe the beads of sweat on her forehead. Taking a calming breath, she took out the ancient scroll the elderly woman had given her, and walked towards the sealed rock. Standing before the numerous seal tags, Kana knelt down onto the dirt as she unrolled the scroll. Taking out the dagger Ryuuji had given her from within her clothes, she unsheathed the blade and made a small cut on the tip of her left forefinger, wincing just a little bit as she swiped her blood across the scriptures written in the laid out scroll. The long swipe of her blood disappeared into the paper, and Kana closed her eyes, clasping her hands together._

"_Please, Onikui Tengu. Answer to my call."_

_For a while, the air around her stilled. Nothing changed, and the scroll didn't show any response except from that of consuming Kana's blood._

_She tried again, putting her resolve into her prayers._

_A chill ran down her spine, but other than that, nothing happened. It was quiet, no signs of demon-eating Tengu popping out any time soon._

_It was after a curse spoken in Kansai dialect and her fifth attempt, did something really happen. There were tremors on the ground she knelt on, and when she made to jump backwards to retrieve her lantern and get the hell away from there, the rock cracked. A blindingly white light escaped the rapidly propagating cracks, causing her to cover her eyes with the back of her hand. She took a few steps back, and fell on her bottom as she accidentally stepped on the hem of her red Hakama. _

_Her eyes were still shielded behind her hand when she felt the brush of soft feathers tickling her skin. Cautiously, she lowered her hand, and blinked at the sight of black feathers floating around a tall man. He was holding onto a staff, wearing a white formal kimono and red Haori, white flame patterns adorning the hem of the magnificent Haori. Jet-black eyes ran over the sleeves of his white kimono, as if figuring out what he was wearing, and his long black hair that reached his waist moved with his head as he turned to look at her, some strands falling over one dark eye as he studied the human in front of him. The large black wings on his back slowly lifted, and was abruptly brought down, creating a gust of wind, blowing stray feathers into her face._

_When he spoke, his voice was guttural, an aftereffect of not being able to use it for more than 400 years. However, it didn't sound as frightening as Kana had thought it would be._

"_Is it you who summoned me?"_

_Kana swallowed, and managed to sit upright as she nodded. He towered over her as he stayed perched on the rock that had sealed him for more than four hundred years, and she had to force herself to look as every bit the brave and proud Onmyouji she was as she lifted her chin towards him._

"_My name is Ienaga Kana. I was the one who summoned you."_

_The Tengu closed his eyes for a while, and when he opened them to look at her, something strongly akin to regret and sadness flashed in the depths of his two black irises._

_He looked… pained._

"_Why? I was sealed here because I have sinned."_

_Kana didn't know what came over her, but something about the sadness and pain in his eyes triggered this over-protectiveness in her being that she thought had never existed. Let alone for a Tengu as strong as the one standing before her. _

_With sure steps, she walked towards the strong, powerful, yet lonely –so lonely, so pained- creature in front of her and offered her right hand._

"_Then let's wash away those sins and find a new reason to live for, Hiromi-kun. Together. With me."_

_He was surprised, and the big wings on his back stilled in their movements due to the unexpected answer. Then she had smiled at him._

_A bright, wide and trusting smile. His wings moved, lifting him in a manner so graceful only an angel could have, and she soon found him standing next to her._

"_Hiromi? Is that my name now?"_

_Kana nodded, and held out her hand to him, meaning to shake hands with his pale and large one. Instead, he shocked her when he knelt on one knee and took her hand in his, planting a kiss at the back of her hand. A furious blush colored her cheeks, and she was eternally grateful that he didn't look up into her face as he swore his life to her._

"_I look forward to serving you from now on, master."_

_The young woman cleared her throat, and laughed nervously. "K-Kana. Call me Kana."_

_He tilted his head to look at her, a dark brow raised. "Kana-sama?"_

"_Yes. Kana. And from now on, we're gonna be a great team."_

* * *

><p>Wakana, as Kana had observed and soon concluded, was a very mysterious person. Even during the days when she was younger and tagged along with Kiyou and the gang as they came over to the Nura manor to play with Rikuo, she had always thought of Wakana as a very cheerful, friendly and weird mother; yet still maintained a very mysterious air at the same time. They never knew when exactly she had been married into the Nura family, and her age when she gave birth to Rikuo. The only true human in the Nura manor - before Kana came - looked young, quite young if she were to be compared to Kana's own mother who she last remembered to have been seen with a few slight wrinkles in the corners of her eyes.<p>

Wakana blinked, and turned around to look back at the staring brown-eyed Omyoji. She smiled good-naturedly as she addressed the young woman.

"Do you need my help, Kana-chan?"

Startled at being found out staring at the older woman, Kana blinked, and shook her head.

"No, nothing… I was just… looking at you sweeping the yard… and then I probably zoned out, I guess."

"Oh, okay then. You can help yourself to the donuts I made. I put it there, with the tea, so Ojii-chan can eat when he gets bored playing shogi with Kurotabo."

She finished with another smile before she continued raking the leaves. After every three minutes or so, she would stop and massage her shoulders, then she would continue while humming a folklore song. Kana, not knowing what to do, sat down on the patio overlooking the large yard where Wakana had just finished cleaning. The omyouji watched as the older woman proceeded to do the laundry, flapping out white pillow cases and colorful futons. A few minutes into the laundry, the woman let out a satisfied sigh and sat next to the still-staring Kana, her back facing the Omyouji. Kana sat there, watching the nostalgic view of the older woman's back as she reached behind her in a futile attempt at massaging the sore spots.

Kana had nearly forgotten how her mother looked, for it had been years since she last saw her. If she had to say something that she missed most about her mother, it was the indescribable feeling of warmth she felt whenever she saw the reassuring back of her mother during those times; as she watched the older woman fussing over the shredded tissue paper that got stuck in the washing machine. She remembered herself as a child hugging that same back whenever she felt extremely sad or extremely happy. Brown eyes softened as she saw the perspiration gathering at the back of Wakana's neck, and then came to the realization that the older woman must have been quite lonely to be the only human before she moved in, despite her cheerful disposition and carefree laughter. That indescribable warmth she had felt when she was younger suddenly washed over her and instinctively her hands reached to massage Wakana's stiff shoulders.

The sudden contact had Wakana jump a little bit before she turned her head just enough to look at Kana confusingly with an eye.

"Kana-chan?"

The Omyouji smiled, and continued to massage the stiff muscle on the older woman's shoulders.

"Let me help you, Wakana-chan."

The older woman seemed a little confused at first, but then she relented, and smiled contentedly. She folded her hands in her lap as she let Kana massage her, while she sighed in relief whenever the younger woman reached several sweet spots.

"Thank you, Kana-chan. Say, where did that cute little fox of yours go to? And handsome Hiromi-kun?"

Kana laughed at the way Wakana described her fellow companions, and she shrugged.

"Hotaru's probably chasing natto kozo and Sannokuchi again. He seems to be attached to those small youkai."

"Yep, poor natto kozo."

"Hiromi, I guess he might have gone somewhere to search for anpan. He does that sometimes."

"Hm… I see." Wakana yawned. "I'm quite curious, Kana-chan."

Kana blinked as she heard Wakana. "Of what?"

Wakana yawned again."Are your wounds healing nicely? You've been here for almost a month now, don't you get bored?"

Kana stopped to ponder for a while. She heard the sudden yip of Hotaru from somewhere in the distance and the laughter of several youkais, a giggle broke out as she heard Kubinashi hollering out as he searched every nook and cranny for the Sandaeme who seemed to have vanished –literally- and she shook her head, continuing with her massage.

"No, not really. I enjoy being here, with all these many youkais. It's weird, huh. For a Omyouji to say that."

Wakana chuckled tiredly, and yawned again. She asked Kana to stop and curled up on the cool patio.

"God, I'm sleepy. I guess I'll take a nap. Thank you so much Kana-chan."

Said name shook her head. "You're welcome, but I didn't really do much."

Wakana closed her eyes, and laughed softly. "There you go again Kana-chan. I'm really glad you're here… sometimes I just… I don't know, sometimes I just forgot how human company feels…"

She cracked open her eyes for a while, and a tired smile formed on her lips. Kana smiled back."Wakana-chan… have you felt lonely before?"

The older woman blinked slowly, and she closed her eyes. "Let me just… just think…"

A few seconds passed when Wakana didn't open her eyes, and instead she fell into deep sleep. The sudden clank sound the broom made as it fell to the dirt distracted Kana, and she decided she should help a little. Grabbing the broom and a leaf raker, she headed to an empty back yard secluded from view, the one place she had never been to ever since she came to the Nura manor. Dried leaves were everywhere, and the many trees that were taller than the walls surrounding the perimeter of the Nura ground swished about as the wind blew. It was a little bit quiet than normal, but Kana shrugged it off. Despite all the youkais playing around and some of them sparring together, not to forget the occasional Kejoro pranks and the competitive squabble of Kurotabo and Aotabo, there was actually a quiet space within the grounds.

Kana put the broom and the raker down, and started to roll up the sleeves of her yukata. With a silent encouragement which she chanted for herself, she started raking the leaves, all the while reminiscing about the times when she used to be a trainee in the Keikain clan.

She had covered most of the area, when a very peculiar sound distracted her. She stopped raking and looked around, aware that something was nearby, but couldn't see. It was a youkai, no doubt. A small one, but she still sensed a youkai nonetheless.

"Mreaaawww…"

Slightly startled, she looked around, looking for the source of the peculiar sound and saw a black cat, its midnight eyes staring back at her, as if daring her to play with it. The cat made that weird sound again, and jumped onto the rooftop in one swift movement. It was then Kana noticed that the cat did not have a butthole.

"Oh, so you're a youkai huh? Never seen one like you."

The youkai licked a paw and meowed again, and this time it leapt off the roof and flew over Kana's head, eliciting a surprised laughter from her. It landed graciously underneath a lush tree without so much as a sound. Kana finally gave up sweeping to walk over to the cat.

"You're playful aren't you? C'mere you-"

_Crack._

_Fwip._

_Tug._

In a span of 0.7 seconds, Kana suddenly found herself staring at the ground. The cat youkai meowed, and watched her as she tried to make out what really happened that second when she walked towards the cat.

"Wha- What is-"

Realizing the sudden tug of a rope around an ankle –quite belatedly at that-, she tried to look down –or up- when she finally realized that she was hanging upside down from a tree. The snagged leg throbbed around her ankle as she tried swinging herself from side to side in a fruitless attempt to escape, while her hands tried to hold up the skirts of her yukata from sliding up her legs. Fighting off the queasiness in her belly from being in a very unusual and precarious position, Kana turned to the youkai cat helplessly.

"A- Ano…"

"Mreaaawww…"

The cat blinked quizzically at her, probably aware that Kana was in trouble but not knowing the urgency of it, and suddenly went off somewhere. Kana huffed as she tried to perform acrobatics by bending her body to untie the rope from her ankle. She bit her lip as a fingertip grazed the tight knot, and after a cramped abdomen and few futile huffs later, she gave up trying.

"Hi- Hiromi-kuuuun! Please help me!"

No one answered, and she tried bending again, just grazing the rope around her ankles yet again before she gave up. She looked around, and huffed before she called out again. "S-Somebody! Please!"

When there was yet no answer, she tried to reach into the sleeves of her yukata for her shikigami all the while trying not to let her legs be exposed. When it seemed to be impossible to try to hold down her yukata while shuffling through her sleeves at the same time, she cried out in frustration. The urgency to cover up her legs seemed to be very important to her at that time, despite the predicament she was in, and it frustrated her to no end. Her head was starting to throb due to the bloodrush, when she felt a gentle whiff of wind brushing her exposed legs. She blew away the strands of hair tickling the corner of her mouth, and suddenly she found herself blinking owlishly at a pair of red ones. The owner of those eyes sported a pair of his signature training hakama with the Nura emblem, a shinai in his hand.

"Kana? What are you doing upside down?"

She decided that just for that time, she should not let her pride stop her from getting down from the tree. With a red face, she swallowed and opened her mouth.

"I-Uh… I don't know h-how th-this happened… I mean, one second I was raking the leaves and then this black cat came and… and I seemed to step on a trap. And I tried to escape but… but… Why was this here in the first place anyway?"

The look of confusion on Rikuo's face as he discovered Kana hanging upside down was immediately replaced by an amused smirk as he saw the state of the Omyouji.

"Being the skilled Omyouji you are, aren't you supposed to sense these kinds of traps? What ever happened to those stealth trainings? Seriously, you make me laugh."

A vein popped on her temple, as she reached her hands to strangle him… only to quickly retract them when her lightweight yukata slid up her thighs almost immediately.

"Y-You… H-Help me! How can you just stand there!"

He shrugged, and approached her dangling form to inspect the rope around her ankle. From the looks of the rope and the green moss growing around it, it seemed to have been buried under the leaves for quite some time now. The trap had been waiting for something, or _someone_ to trigger it, and he was quite surprised that the rope, being as old as it looked to be, held Kana's weight just well. But then, her head had just been dangling five or six inches off the ground, so the tension probably was not enough to snap the rope and let Kana drop unceremoniously onto the dirt. Her caught foot was at his eye level, and he could see her trying to wiggle her toes in an effort to give some feeling to her probably numbing legs.

"What, are you feeling dizzy already? Why didn't you use your shikigami anyway? You could've reached into your sleeves."

Kana, her face looking at anywhere but his smug one, huffed in reply. "I-I can't… Not with my hands trying to conceal what little dignity I have left. So j-just help me, okay? Please?"

Just for good measure, she said it again. The almighty magic word. "Please."

He cocked his head to one side as he noticed that despite the urgency of the situation, she could still be stupidly stubborn sometimes. He cleared his throat when he saw her futile attempt at covering her legs, her face blushing scarlet. His eyes had already caught the sight of the creamy white skin of her slim legs and thighs. She was beautiful, that was no doubt. It wasn't as if he wanted to actually see them, though. He was a serious and honorable man who does not ogle women. But it didn't mean he couldn't appreciate beauty when his eyes happen to chance upon them. Miles and miles of smooth and white skin, just begging to be caressed, just calling him to sink his teeth into the supple skin of her thighs and lick the bitemarks and hear her-

"Please."

His thoughts were cut short by that simple sweet word. No wonder teachers had drilled into children that it was a magic word.

"Alright, stay still. You're wiggling too much."

She replied with a meek 'okay' as he dropped the shinai and reached for the rope tied around her ankle. With nothing much as a warning, Kana fell to the ground with a distinct thump.

"Ooomph!"

Kana didn't know which surprised her more; the fact that Rikuo had just let her fall down unceremoniously just like that, or the fact that he actually used his bare hands to break the rope holding her. But then, the latter shouldn't have surprised her, he was a strong ayakashi after all. She bit her lip as she saw the painful red welt the rope left around her ankle and ran her fingers over it. She looked up from her bruise as Rikuo crouched in front of her, a cheeky smirk on him as he held his bamboo sword.

"That was actually a trap I had set up years ago. Sorry about that."

Judging from his amused reaction to her predicament, she was convinced that he didn't actually feel and look the least bit sorry, if any.

"Thanks… but why would you set up a trap anyway? Jeez…"

He chuckled a little, and helped her up. She winced as she tried to adjust to the pain, and just when she was about to wobble back into the house, she heard Rikuo say something about a welcome party that night. She looked at him, ignoring the pain for a while and spoke up. "A welcome party? For who?"

Rikuo nodded. "For you of course. Why are you even asking that?"

Kana pouted, and he was sorely tempted to kiss her pink lips. But of course he didn't. She would have stabbed him in the solar plexus with her sharp elbow if he tried then.

"You guys don't have to! It's gonna be such a waste of food and everything. I already feel welcomed here, and isn't the party overdue anyway?"

Well, it had been a month since she came.

He smirked. "Well yeah. But Jiji just wants an excuse to have fun and drink sake, since Zen brought back a tonne of 'em. And the youkai from Tono are coming here for a visit, so it's a good time for the guys here to relax."

Oh yeah, she almost forgot about the daily and night patrols. The Nura turf seemed to be expanding more than ever, all the more reason for Rikuo and his subordinates to be extra careful.

"Ah, I see. It must be fun then."

The silver-haired youkai nodded, and then suddenly his smirk widened a fraction. "And you're going to dress up nicely as well. But do you have something else to wear other than those miko clothes you have?"

Kana pouted again. "How rude. I actually do have a few nice kimonos, and I'm not a miko. I'm an Onmyouji."

Rikuo chuckled then, she really was cute when her cheeks turn pink and puff up. "I'm sure you do. I have something for you by the way, but I'll be giving it to you after the party."

He watched as her face turned from that of annoyance into curiosity in a matter of seconds. "O-Okay." She stuttered out meekly, and her cheeks colored a light shade of pink as Rikuo continued to watch her, his head cocked to the side.

He seemed distracted as he watched her tuck her hair behind an ear, and suddenly a small smile spread across his lips before he spoke up, his voice oddly quiet.

"Okay then." Then he vanished from his previous spot, leaving Kana blinking.

She bit her lip, and forced her blush to go away as she wobbled towards the medical chambers.

"Geez, he's doing that on purpose. Being all handsome and everything."

* * *

><p><em>Location: Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto<em>

_Subject: Ienaga Kana and Hiromi_

_Sex: Female and Male, respectively_

_Age: 20 years and 17 hours old and 713 years old, respectvely_

Having travelled with her for almost a year while she made a living by offering exorcism services, purification ceremonies and kagura rituals, Hiromi gathered that Ienaga Kana was a healthy twenty-year old woman. From his understanding of the new era he was living right then, women her age were busy worrying about lovers, college assignments and what to wear to classes. But Kana was not doing any of that. Right then, she was bent over a pile of leeks, busy buying materials for a coming vengeful spirit purification ceremony at an abandoned shrine later that night. Being her ever-so loyal bodyguard, Hiromi tagged along and watched her quietly as she socialized with the locals of the neighbourhood. He saw a maiden sweeping the front yard of the humongous shrine they were currently staying at for probably another six more months (probably three if Kana would be called again by some other shrine for her services), and suddenly he felt the need to call out to his master.

"Hey, Kana-sama."

She looked up from a bunch of flowers she had been looking at. "Hm? What is it, Hiromi-kun?"

Stuffing a hand into the pocket of his slacks, –the pants, white button down shirt and black blazer he was wearing were part of the disguise Kana had picked out for him, though he suspected that was just an excuse for her to dress him up a little bit- Hiromi motioned towards a group of young girls, most probably around her age, who were trying on some shiny jewelry at one of the street vendors.

"I've never really seen you fancying over glittery women things. Don't you ever have the urge to?"

Kana blinked owlishly at him. Again, the thought of how pretty and bright her eyes were to him was kept to himself. "Why would I? Is it because I'm a girl?"

Hiromi nodded. "Well, obviously. I mean, you should give yourself a break, you know. It's not normal for a young woman like you to be travelling around with a Tengu on tow."

The Omyouji laughed and adjusted the shopping basket she had with her so that it would not feel so heavy. "Are you worried about me, Hiromi-kun? Of course, as a girl I kind of like shiny glittery things but right now I think that there are other things I should prioritize on."

A five year old boy was running from a little girl of his age in a game of tag, when he accidentally bumped into her. Kana smiled brightly as she lowered herself to ruffle the boy's head, picking out a few dried leaves that had somehow lodged themselves in his mop of dark brown hair, and told him to be careful not to trip on something and hurt himself. The boy gave her a huge grin, and Hiromi saw the longing in her eyes as she watched the boy patted his clothes in search of a blue marble which he then gave her as a thanks. He watched as that look on her face remained for another few moments as she watched the boy resume his running, his small hand waving at her. She waved back, and then turned to her bodyguard, lips upturned into a small smile.

"There are still evil out there, Hiromi-kun. There are souls to be purified, and families to protect. I don't have anyone else in this world but you and Hotaru, and I would hate for someone else to lose a loved one. And it's better if I preoccupy myself in working, else I'd be thinking of depressing things, and those bad memories will come and pester me."

They saw the little boy finally being caught by a little girl, and watched silently as the children laughed together. It was then Hiromi realized what he saw a few moments ago when Kana had been talking to the boy. She was probably thinking of the things that could have been had she not lost her lover, and the memories that could have been made had she not lost Keikain Yura.

'_It's better if I preoccupy myself in working, else I'd be thinking of depressing things, and those bad memories will come and pester me.'_

The Tengu nodded in understanding. "… That's understandable."

Kana contemplated for a while, before she flashed another warm smile. "I'm glad you do. How about Hiromi-kun?"

A dark brow rose. "What?"

His master –Gods, he never thought that he would end up with a young woman as a master- stopped by a stall selling hair ornaments, and picked out a Tsumami Kanzashi hairpin. The pair of red and gold folded silk flowers nested white pearls in their centres, and three strands of two-inch tsumami streamers accompanied the fabric flowers, each end sporting a pink pearl. The hairpin was simple and elegant, and for some reason Hiromi thought it suited Kana's hair perfectly. Not that he would tell her anyway. She put the hairpin down, something akin to longing flashed in her eyes –again - which lasted no longer than a heartbeat, and turned to him.

"Do you like pretty little things?"

Hiromi stared at her, unsure of what to look like, before he shrugged. He did like the way her eyes would sparkle when she laughs, and thought that her eyes were 'pretty little things'. "Sure, why not."

Kana seemed happy with the roundabout answer, and said something about black ink before she resumed her shopping.

* * *

><p><em>Subject: Ienaga Kana<em>

_Age: Twenty-three years and nine weeks old_

_Location: Nura Clan Manor_

_Occupation: Freelance Exorcist slash freeloader_

He was in between getting hounded by the elders for an heir and his grandfather forcing him another cup of sake when she walked in, accompanied by a cheerfully smiling Tsurara and a smug Kejoro. Wakana, who was eating next to him, gasped pleasantly as Kana bowed to the audience and apologized for being late. The mass of youkai partying and playing around the large hall greeted her as she seated herself between Hiromi and Kubinashi.

She brought up a hand and tucked a stray strand of brown hair behind an ear, and that was when her eyes found his red ones.

Rikuo could no longer feel the migraine he was subjected to as soon as he met the slightly drunk elders, instead he felt as if the wind was knocked out of him in one big whoop. She blushed a little and nodded slightly at him, acknowledging him before she turned to hear something Tsurara was telling her.

He knew Kana was pretty, but he never knew she could be even more. Beautiful seemed very insignificant as he watched the way some of her smooth hair escape the bun Kejoro had done for her when she tilted her head to the side, listening to the Yuki-Onna. The white furisode she wore was patterned with silver and light blue butterflies on the lower part of her kimono, and she had put on a dark blue Haori with white flowers lined with silver thread stitched onto the hems of the dark sleeves and the lower hem of the outer kimono. A pair of wine-colored hairpins secured her long hair into a stylishly-twisted bun, and what caught his attention were her lips, painted slightly with red.

A smile adorned her lips, as the neckless youkai next to her offered to pour some sake for her. She nodded, and the party continued as three beautifully-dressed Tanuki Geishas walked in and performed a dance, courtesy of the visiting youkais that came all the way from Gion. One of the dancers pulled out something from her Hikizuri, and blew on the hand holding it towards Kana, and suddenly butterflies fluttered around her. The amazement in her eyes was priceless, and the three dancers smiled as she thanked them for such a pleasant surprise.

From her side, Hiromi, who was wearing a dark blue plain kimono and white sleeveless haori, nodded approvingly as he saw how much fun Kana was having with the dance and magic performance. His large black wings were revealed in favour of his master, who wanted them all to let loose for the night. The Onmyouji clapped her hands as the three dancers started spouting off black fire from their mouths, and turning the flames into black stallions that danced around her, before disappearing into air. Rikuo swallowed when he saw her flash another bright smile when the dancers retired for the night. How he wished she would smile at him like that for the rest of his life.

Nurarihyon ruffled his grandson's hair as he noticed the way Rikuo was watching the woman, his grandson silently sipping on his cup of sake. He chuckled when his grandson scowled at him, the fierceness of it lost somehow.

Poor boy. He didn't know what to do with his own feelings.

Wakana nodded approvingly as she watched Kana. "Ojii-chan, Kana-chan is so pretty! Don't you think so too, Rikuo-kun?"

Red eyes watched as Kana clapped her hands, laughing at a prompt Tsukkomi performance taking place. "Hm."

His short response was met with a loud laughter from his grandfather. "Oya, Rikuo-kun is too flustered to say anything else. Look at him, speechless and all."

If it wasn't below him, Rikuo would have rolled his eyes. He was wishing for the day when his grandfather would find it boring to tease him.

"Shut up Jiji. I was just surprised, is all. Didn't think she'd have dressed up like that."

That was met with another loud laughter, and he watched from the corner of his eye as his grandfather stood up, Nenekirimaru in hand. The elders were long gone, excusing themselves for the night before they got too drunk. "Well, looks like I'm leaving too, Sandaeme-kun. Don't forget to have fun. Wakana, you too."

He watched as the elder Nura waved to Kana as he exited the hall. Rikuo knew the old man was going to have some time alone for himself, as he would always do during nights like this. He knew Nurarihyon would sit on top of the roof, nursing his pipe and watch the moon with his beloved Nenekirimaru by his side, as if his deceased grandmother was there too.

"Be careful, Hotaru."

He turned to Kana as she watched with bright eyes when Hotaru yipped and chased around a ball of fire that one of them had produced, and laughed as the other young youkais made chasing the ball of fire into a game. In a corner of the hall, a few youkai and Ryota-neko were gambling, and somehow they managed to drag a serious-looking Hiromi to join as well. He was busy watching the Tengu strike a few lucky wins when he saw Hotaru hopping towards him, abandoning the fire ball chase in favour of snuggling against his lap. Wakana cooed at the small bundle of white, giggling as the fox licked at her outstretched hand. She gently ran her fingers through the thick white fur over the head and a smile reached her lips.

Something tugged in Rikuo as he watched his mother relax after what seemed like a long time. He felt bad, not being able to really talk with her about normal things. Clearing his throat, he turned to his mother.

"Mother…"

Wakana looked up at him, a curious pair of eyes blinking back at him. It was then when he noticed the slight wrinkles in the corners of her eyes. "Yes, Rikuo-kun?"

He watched as Hotaru played with his own tails, still comfortably staying in his lap.

"Thank you."

It took a few moments for the words to sink in, and then his mother laughed softly. "Really, Rikuo-kun. You're so cute!"

Her son bristled at the comment, and he frowned. "I'm not cute."

Still, the older woman smiled warmly at her son, her grown-up son. "You're welcome, dear. I love you, Rikuo-kun."

She laughed as she saw his ears reddening at her confession, and stood up. "Well then, this old mother of yours need a good night's rest. Goodnight, Rikuo-kun. Don't stay up too late, alright?"

He nodded, and watched as his mother too made her way out of the hall to retire for the night. Hotaru yipped, and he silently watched as the little fox ran towards a standing Hiromi, ready to leave the party. The Tengu was saying something to his master, and she nodded and waved at Hotaru as the small fox hopped into Hiromi's arms as he walked out. Kana made to follow suit, thanking Tsurara, Kejoro and the other youkais for a good and entertaining party before she left the hall. She stopped by the sliding doors, and turned to him, a pretty blush coloring her cheeks either from the little amount of sake she consumed or something else.

For a second, Rikuo would have liked to think it was because of him.

"Goodnight, Rikuo-kun. And thank you. I had a great time."

He nodded to her, still not knowing what to say as he saw the way her relaxed smile lit up her face. The doors closed behind her as she excused herself, and suddenly he remembered that he wanted to give her something.

He waited for a few seconds, making sure everyone was either too drunk to notice or too occupied with the still ongoing party before he walked out of the hall.

* * *

><p>"Thank you, Hiromi-kun. For coming to the party with me."<p>

The Tengu nodded, and his wings moved. "It's my duty to accomopany you, Kana-sama. Besides, it was nice letting loose once in a while. And it was nice seeing you enjoy yourself."

"Yes, I did, didn't I? Well, goodnight O-great Tengu-sama."

Hiromi chuckled and walked towards his own room a few doors away from hers. Kana smiled as she watched Hiromi bid her goodnight and disappeared into his chambers, Hotaru perched on top of his head. She gasped when she felt Rikuo's presence, and turned around to see him standing a few feet behind her, leaning against her door. The moonlight shone across the hallway, and the soft lights from the garden lanterns gave the impression that his hair was glowing, his red eyes made even more prominent in the ambience. She could feel her blush returning, watching as his tall body neared her. The corners of his lips turned up slightly as he watched her, watching him with her doe eyes. Her brown irises looked glazed over, her pale face and her faintly blushing cheeks looked softer within the glow of the lights (an after-effect of a few cups of sake on his part). His eyes watched as she licked her lips, making him forget for a second.

"Rikuo-kun?"

He chuckled, a low and relaxed chuckle, and pulled out something from beneath the folds of his kimono. Kana looked down into her hands as he wrapped her fingers around the object he had pulled out, and her eyes widened.

"I was out with my mother yesterday. Thought it would suit you."

It was a Tsumami Kanzashi, which looked surprisingly similar to the one she found a few years ago near the Fushimi Inari Shrine. She traced her fingers gently over the intricate red and gold satin petals, and a smile adorned her face.

"Thank you, Rikuo-kun. I love it." The pink on her cheeks darkened as she smiled at him.

That bright and warm smile she had on just a few hours ago.

Nura Rikuo was a man who would have his own set of rules and his own set of discipline when it came to temptations. He was the type of man to make true to his promises, and he would make sure he would stick to whatever is necessary in fulfilling them. He was patient in getting what he wanted, and he had always waited for the best opportunity to strike when needed.

'_I'll wait for you.'_

He knew he made that promise, and he should be patient. Yet, watching her everyday just walking around making friends with anything and everyone, her cheerful laughter tickling his ears and just warming his chest, the smiles she would give him, and now seeing her being so beautiful and so damn inviting had made him think twice about the promise he made.

Why would he wait? When he could just strike now. When she seemed to also feel the same way.

"Rikuo-"

Kana was barely able to gasp at the sudden rushed movement when a pair of lips crushed themselves against hers, her face cradled between a pair of large and calloused hands. Her eyes widened and she froze, unresponsive even as those lips melded themselves against her own. She felt him push her back until it hit the wall next to her sliding doors, and her body trembled as she felt him hum against her soft lips.

Rikuo could feel every cell in his body dance in euphoria for finally, _finally _having given in. He might or might not regret it later, but he found out he didn't care anyway when her lips felt so soft and sleek. He moved a hand from her face to run his fingers through her hair, pulling out the two sticks binding her soft hair and letting them fall to the floor, before he grabbed the back of her head, tilting her head backward so that he could press himself closer against her.

Kana eventually closed her eyes, shyly opening her lips as she felt his tongue caressing her bottom lip, begging for entrance. Her hands tightened into fists, the fingers clenching around the soft lapels of his kimono. She could feel his tongue entering her mouth, an unfamiliar sensation that made her body tingling and quivering at the same time. It felt so good and she unwittingly parted her lips further, though she remained hesitant and unsure of how to respond.

Her willingness was all the persuasion Rikuo needed when he brought down the hand cradling her face to wrap around her waist, melding her soft body to his, bringing out a moan from her. He ravished her mouth heatedly, determined to trace every crevice of her delectable mouth until she was dizzy with thoughts of him. He growled, his chest rumbling with the vibration, and it was all he could do to stop his body from further responding to her, which was a battle he was losing all too soon.

She just tasted so damn good.

She gasped as she felt something hard pressing against her lower abdomen. "Rikuo…-kun…"

She was silenced as he covered her throat with his mouth, his teeth teasingly grazed at the delicate skin. He dragged his mouth over to her earlobe, and Kana bit her lip as she felt her body tremble at the smooth baritone when he whispered her name.

"Kana…"

He pulled back, and her eyes glazed as she saw his eyes. Eyes that promised a lot of things.

She released a silent breath as he slowly, achingly slowly, unwrapped his arm from around her waist, and released the back of her head, his fingers gently caressing her cheek before he pulled back. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, trying not to scare her off more than he already did with the sudden straining of the lower part of his body. He watched as Kana tightened her fingers around the hairpin he gave her, and closed his eyes when she brought up her left hand to caress his face.

"I'm not sorry. For kissing you that is."

Kana's fading blush returned when he opened his eyes to look into hers, a wry grin on his face.

"O-Oh… U-Um… I…"

She swallowed, not knowing what to say when he covered his hand over hers, and brought it to his lips to plant one last kiss into her palm before he vanished before her.

Automatically, she turned around and entered her room. Only when the doors closed behind her did she finally collapse onto the floor, her face brightening up into a fierce red as soon as she remembered what she had felt pressed against her abdomen a few moments ago. She never knew she could affect him that much. Taking a pillow, she stuffed it against her face as she squealed.

"R-Rikuo-kun you pervert!"

* * *

><p><strong>1. The cat without a butthole thing… I made that up. It was 2 a.m and I couldn't sleep, so blame my weird head for that.<strong>

**2. Tsumami Kanzashi – a type of hairpin which uses fabric-pinching techniques to produce flower petals. Google for image. ^^**

3. a shinai is a bamboo sword.

**Sorry, for the heated kissing scene, but I warned you didn't I? I can't help it, since I'm a pervert and all. Thank you for the reviews and favorites for the last two chapters. I'd appreciate it if you leave a review for this one also. **

**Hugs and kisses!**


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